You know, I have often posted along lines similar to this. There IS in sports world wide a culture of hyper-criticism, especially of any team making a claim to excellence. This mindset leads to nit-picking.

And it IS very, very common to fail to understand the value of winning tough games, even of winning ugly. Getting a WIN this way is actually a major step forward. Champions play and win these games. I'm thrilled with the result.

However ...

There is ALSO such a thing as a game exposing symptoms of significant vulnerability or dysfunction. And a shrewed look at a game refuses to get caught up in picking nets but does acknowledge real issues.

So, for example, Goff's picks seem to me to be nits. The first was him throwing into a tight window. If you celebrate the completions into thimbles, you gotta accept the picks. And the 2nd was a low percentage Hail Mary of absolutely no significance. Goff played well.

But the defense. It is impossible to honestly and perceptively dismiss concerns for this defense. It is a major disappointment. The DBs are really frustrating. And the edge is the problem people feared it might be.

This defense has got to improve. And that's not picking nits.