[washingtonismoney]

For all those who want to blame the offense for the loss, you'll be happy to know that KJ (at least somewhat) agrees with you.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/collegesports...461096.php

But "blame" is too zero-sum. If you want to know "what events made the marginal difference between winning and losing," then all three units of the team could be blamed -- if Toner hits the 52 yard field goal (and perhaps also if the punt return unit doesn't surrender a TD), then Stanford probably wins. Does it follow that the special teams deserve exclusive or predominant fault for losing the game? No, of course. It's probably best to compare the Stanford performance to reasonable expectations of how they might perform pre-game, and ask whether that made the difference in the game. With that analysis, the most natural conclusion is that the offense didn't play perfect, but acquitted itself well against a tough opponent; that the defense gave up more points than expected, even given a tough opponent; and that the special teams played an underrated, but perhaps not decisive role, in losing.

[washingtonismoney]

For all those who want to blame the offense for the loss, you'll be happy to know that KJ (at least somewhat) agrees with you.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/collegesports...461096.php

But "blame" is too zero-sum. If you want to know "what events made the marginal difference between winning and losing," then all three units of the team could be blamed -- if Toner hits the 52 yard field goal (and perhaps also if the punt return unit doesn't surrender a TD), then Stanford probably wins. Does it follow that the special teams deserve exclusive or predominant fault for losing the game? No, of course. It's probably best to compare the Stanford performance to reasonable expectations of how they might perform pre-game, and ask whether that made the difference in the game. With that analysis, the most natural conclusion is that the offense didn't play perfect, but acquitted itself well against a tough opponent; that the defense gave up more points than expected, even given a tough opponent; and that the special teams played an underrated, but perhaps not decisive role, in losing.