Critical Year for Ravens Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman largely ignores the outside criticism.

Nonetheless, this could be a crucial year for him that could decide his future in Baltimore.

Roman's critics say he can't put together an explosive offense capable of winning a Super Bowl.

However, Roman has broken records with his running game and the Ravens led the NFL in scoring in 2019.

Roman tries to ignore the outside noise.

“Oh, geez. I live and die by what anything in the media is said," Roman said. "No, that was a joke. (laughter) Yes, I mean, we’ve got to stay focused on what we stay focused on. As a professional, we’re all our harshest critics, and I think we know the truth, and you just believe in that and keep trying to get better every day. Don’t get set in your ways; just keep trying to adapt, evolve and adjust, and don’t worry about a thing.”

Despite some criticism, coach John Harbaugh has seen the Ravens make strides under Greg Roman.

That's why Harbaugh is prepared to move forward with Roman as the offensive coordinator next season.

"I'm planning on Greg to be back," Harbaud is in his first press conference since the season ended. "I believe Greg plans on being back. That's the plan, and I'm excited about that. We've done some pretty darn good things here over the past three years, offensively. I think we have a really good vision and understanding of what we want to build offensively, who we're going to build around and what we need to do it."

Baltimore's offense did not perform that poorly last 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.

Brown has since been traded to the Arizona Cardinals.

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," Jackson said. "There’s always room for improvement with anything you do.”