The Case for Greg Roman

Baltimore had dominant rushing attack.

OWINGS MILLS, Md.— Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman has become a polarizing figure in Baltimore. 

While the Ravens' ground game has been dominant even after losing their top three running backs in training camp, the passing attack has not been as dominant. 

Quarterback Lamar Jackson offered his support for Roman after the season ended with a 16-13 overtime loss to the Steelers. The Ravens finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years. 

“Coach Greg Roman has been great for us for these last couple of years since he stepped in," Jackson said. "He’s a great coach, and we’re glad he’s here. I can’t get into that. I don’t really know what they’ve got going on upstairs. You’ve got to talk to ‘E.D.C.’ [executive vice president & general manager Eric DeCosta] and those guys about stuff like that. That’s not anything I … I don’t talk about stuff like that. He’s been good for us, though.”

Baltimore's offense did not perform that poorly this season despite a myriad of injuries. 

Here's a breakdown of the Ravens offense this season and where it ranked among the league's 32 teams:

Points per game: 22.8 (17th)

Yards per game: 378.8, (6th)

Passing yards per game: 233 (13th)

Rushing yards per game: 145.8 (3rd)

Both wide receiver Marquise Brown and tight end Mark Andrews eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards on the season. It was just the second Baltimore tandem to reach the 1,000-yard mark in the same season, joining Michael Jackson and Derrick Alexander accomplished that feat in 1996. 

Jackson missed the last four games with a bone bruise in his ankle. He finished the season with 2,882 yards passing with 16 interceptions and 13 interceptions (87.0 rating). 

Jackson admitted the offense has to be better, especially the passing attack.

"We have great running backs, we’ve got a great run game, but that passing game is going to help us even more, so we need to just keep doing that, keep getting better at that; keep getting better at everything – not just the passing game," he said. "There’s always room for improvement with anything you do.”

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