Offensive coordinator Greg Roman has used a punishing ground game at his NFL stops in San Francisco, Buffalo and Baltimore. The Ravens were ranked in the top three in the NFL in yards rushing per game in each of Roman’s four seasons, including a record-setting 3,296 yards rushing in 2019 when quarterback Lamar Jackson was named NFL most valuable player. Even with Herbert’s elite arm talent, few seemed surprised at Roman’s offensive plan for the Chargers.
The idea is only starting to take shape.
Herbert has maintained a high completion percentage (67.4%) through two games that is slightly better than his career average of 66.6%, but his yards per competition are lower than ever at a six-yard clip. Throwing for less than 200 yards in consecutive games for the first time in his career, Herbert has thrown only 46 passes during the first two games, the fewest for any two-game stretch.
