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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Having watched his offense experience multiple problems in the first two weeks, Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman on Friday morning. The move came in the wake of Buffalo's 37-31 home loss to the New York Jets on Thursday night.
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"I met with Greg this morning and we agreed to part ways and I'm naming Anthony Lynn as our offensive coordinator," said Ryan. "I'd like to say, first off, I appreciate Greg Roman, the job he did for us. I think he's, I've always thought he's a tremendous coach and I still believe that, but this is a decision that I think moving forward is going to help our team and that's the reason why I made that decision."
When Ryan made Roman one of his first hires upon taking over as head coach last year, the fit looked right. Ryan's idea of complementary football is to play strong, suffocating defense while his offense grounds and pounds you to death. Roman was a logical choice to develop that style, given the success of the running game he produced as the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh.
Sure enough, the Bills led the NFL in rushing last season, and quarterback Tyrod Taylor made enough electrifying plays to provide expectations that Buffalo could take big strides in Roman's scheme in year two.
Instead, the Bills were inept in the 13-7 loss to Baltimore in Week 1, and outside of a few big plays that inflated their statistics, showed no consistency against the Jets.
"I think we have a lot of weapons, it's just how we disperse it and go about doing that and that's where the focus is going to be," Ryan said, indicating that he believes Lynn can get that done. "With Anthony, I know the kind of coach he is, the kind of person he is, and the direction he can take us.
"We need a change. I think we have a lot of talent on offense, I believe that, and I believe we're going to do what we can to put the ball in our playmakers' hands."
Lynn's No. 1 mission should be to get Taylor pointed in the right direction because, right now, he seems to be regressing. The Bills' passing game has been panned by some NFL observers as the simplest in the NFL, and the standing theory is that Roman was hamstrung by Taylor's limited abilities.
That very well could be true, but maybe Ryan feels it's the other way around and that Roman didn't trust Taylor enough and was stunting his development.
"I think Tyrod is an outstanding player, I believe in his ability as a drop-back quarterback, and as a quarterback that is athletic that we can do things with," said Ryan. "I think he's a rare talent and we have to do things that I think will showcase those abilities a little bit.
"He has some unique abilities and we need to focus on those strengths, and also try to develop what we perceive as a weakness; give him an opportunity to get better, and I think he will."
