I thought about that when I was posting this. However, these games were not just close games that we lost, these were games that we gave away. Not whining about the losses to Dallas, Seattle, even Kansas City.I agree with what you said about Hurney, but we as a board need to stop saying the above. EVERY team in the league who won or lost a close game can say what you've said. Teams we beat this season by a close score can say that if they did this, or that, differently, they could've beat us. Could we have beaten the Falcons? Sure! Could the Saints have beaten us? YEP. This whole argument is a wash.
The losses I point out were a direct result of Hurney's incompetence that was allowed to infect the team for the past 4 years. My point was not to make excuses, it simply shows the disconnect between the fans' understanding of how Marty screwed this team and Ron's decision-making. We had RBs who were paid about $17,000 per yard gained and we are having to patch holes at positions Marty neglected for years with special teamers, low draft picks, and cuts from other teams. These were the areas other teams exploited to win. These are the areas that limited Rivera's decisions. He was handcuffed. And before you say that all teams have these issues, few have $80 million invested in 9 players from a team that went 2-14 and 6-10 over the previous two seasons. That is why Marty was fired and RIvera was not. So to criticize Ron's decisions without considering the fact that he had crap on the field is unfair. The games I selected simply illustrated this. These games were won if Rivera had options to run the clock out or jam WRs. He did not because the right side of our OL sucks, our left guard was a confused rookie, and our center was out. Because Mary does not beleive CB is a priority, we have Norman on Brandon Marshall with the game on hte line. What were his options vs. a 5 WR set? Jam 6-5 Marshall who runs a 4.4 with a 5'11" rookie CB who runs a 4.6 and could never recover vs. the deep ball? He really had few options, but fans ripped him. If we had any player at all over there, the game is over. If we could run the ball, the game is over. Marty was fired because of this, so comparing this to the norm is not a valid argument.
