You are trying to prove causation because a series of events occurred in succession. (It's like saying my dog barks and then the phone rings. My dog must be causing the phone to ring).
Ignoring the fact that most of the defense played against the 49'ers and yet they surrendered long drives to the Falcons and couldn't get off the field on 3rd downs. What happened to their edge? Could it maybe be that one of our best D-lineman got injured before halftime and it really hurt them in the 2nd half?
Also, Cooper did play in the last game and his mistakes led to 10 Atlante points. Close to the margin of victory, no?
What is meat by 'did not compete'? Are you saying McVay told the players to lose against the 49'ers? I'm pretty sure they were competing to win the game and they didn't lie down - they were beaten.
I don't know why you have so little respect for McVay and his decisions, because in the end - your message seems to be - over and over - MCVAY BLEW IT! Are you not happy he's the head coach? Do you not trust his decision-making? Feel you know better than him? I for one am very glad we were lucky enough to get him and will give him the benefit of the doubt over his decisions and play calling until he puts together a run of clunker seasons like Fisher. To take last year's train wreck and get the team into the playoffs, winning the division are beyond anything I had hoped for when the year started. I am upset they lost a game they could maybe have won but it happens. It's hard to win a regular season game let alone 11, it's hard to win a division, it's hard to win a playoff game. What McVay did this year should not be taken for granted.
