Not going to respond to the Fire-the-Coachers or the Eeyores, but there is no sugarcoating this one. And I like the stats when they give true insight.
The problem with many stats is that they are averages, and don't take into account other key aspects of the game. For example, between our defense and their penalties, we had BG in third and very long a good bit. But this doesn't tell the whole story. This is a meaningful defensive stat:
3rd Down Success Rate | BG: 55% 83rd %ile | GT: 27% 14th %ile |
Similarly, we moved the ball pretty well through the air and thus had a lot of passing yards. But the pick-six, the other interception in the red zone, and the failed (twice) short-yardage QB sneaks in the red zone meant that several scoring opportunities were wasted. The stats also don't describe how we took this game for granted (admitted by our defensive leaders), lost focus after going up two scores, and BG played with greater intensity.
We have so far this season been able to overcome deficiencies in some areas (special teams, tackling, etc.) with strengths in others. Not always enough to win the game, but enough to keep from embarrassing ourselves. What this game showed is that we are not a good enough team to win when our QB has a bad day. And he had an uncharacteristically bad one. Let's hope he can put it behind him.
While I'm not convinced Key is the right coach long-term, he has earned a little patience from me. Perhaps because the bar was set so low by the previous regime. But he is taking ownership and I believe he is holding his players and coaching team accountable. Also, and more importantly for the long-term, Cabrera has shown he is not willing to let things go too long without taking action, unlike prior admins.