Denial isn't an argument, it's just denial.
Look, what I said lays at the feet of the FO what can legit be laid at their feet.... they chose to go into the season with rookies at LT and C, and oh by the way, I can only speak for me, but ti was me and a very short list of folks round here who, in the preseason, was tamping down expectations about what could be rightfully expected of Guyton and Beebe. "Oh, but you drafted him in the first round, you have to throw him out there and be content with the results"... "oh, I'm sure he should be able to transition from G to C pretty well, he's just that good." That's essentially the thrust of what I/we got back from some here.
That much is accurate in your too-broad criticism.
But you simply cannot make the FO accountable for lacking 3rd string D-line players capable of holding up after the first 4 Edges go down to injury... irrational to do that... in fact, they held up remarkably well, all things considered, but not nearly well enough.
And same, but even worse given the salience of the position... you simply cannot make the FO accountable for lacking a QB2 capable of performing at a level that your QB1 was capable.
Of course, it's not popular with some to try to be fair to the FO, and yet again, for a great many here, you were totally fine with the FO's decisions during preseason... some, even, thought the Cowboys would never fail to draft a pro bowler offensive lineman ever again... you spoke glowingly about all the successes Will McClay has had, and had no interest in thinking about how math and regression to the mean figured into that equation... it was going to happen that our home run streak was going to hit a wall, sooner than later, w/ regard to drafting linemen who were good from the time they were rookies. It's just how it works.
Bottom line, yes, some of the FO's decisions made 2024 difficult, and not necessarily but quite possibly on their own kept us out of the playoffs. But no, that's only a fraction of the problem because health became so scarce at arguably the most important positions on the defensive side of the ball, as well as the offensive. No team, including the reigning champions, could have survived that (... right Carson Wentz?).
