The Buffalo Bills fell to a disappointing 0-2 on Thursday night with a 37-31 home loss to their AFC East rival New York Jets, and someone, apparently, has to pay.
Via ESPN’s Adam Schefter, that someone is offensive coordinator Greg Roman:
 | @AdamSchefter | |
Buffalo Bills firing OC Greg Roman, per league sources. Roman was NFL's top paid OC.
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The Bills have confirmed the dismissal, adding that running backs coach/assistant head coach Anthony Lynn has been promoted to coordinator.
Lynn has been with head coach Rex Ryan for several years, and interviewed for the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive coordinator opening as well as the Miami Dolphins’ head coaching spot.
The Bills did score 24 points on offense against the Jets (their fourth TD was courtesy of cornerback Nickell Robey, who had a fumble return in the third quarter, helping Buffalo go from a 20-10 halftime deficit to a 24-20 lead it would later relinquish.
Buffalo scored just seven points in its opener against the Baltimore Ravens.
Under Roman, the Bills averaged just 3.5 yards per carry on 43 attempts, and also converted just six of 23 third-down opportunities. They advanced into the red zone just twice, though on Thursday night they had passing touchdowns of 84 and 71 yards.
Scapegoating Roman goes against what Ryan told his players at the start of training camp. In a team-produced documentary, Ryan said in part, “If it doesn’t work, I’ll be the first m—–f—– that goes. And every one of you, I f—ing know you’ve got my back. All I want is every f—ing thing you got. I’ll take every f—ing bullet known to man.”
Lynn is the 11th offensive coordinator Buffalo has had in the last 17 years, not exactly a formula for success. But according to the Bills’ website, this is not the earliest the team has fired its offensive coordinator: in 2009, Turk Schonert was fired after the season opener.
Update: Sporting News’ Alex Marvez reports that the Bills’ front office pressured Ryan to “make a significant change in hopes of appeasing a disgruntled fan base” so Roman became the one who was ousted.
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