The broadcasters said it 50 times while we were watching yet another big 4th quarter lead vanish, right on schedule:

Whether it's defense or offense you're talking about, neither unit has seemed able to play 60 minutes and "finish." What made this team so successful over the past few years was winning games in all the same ways they are losing them this year. They've gone from being among the best 4th quarter teams in the League to a team that is historically bad in the 4th quarter. That's not a winning trend, in case anyone's been sleeping under a rock.

From a team perspective, nobody's doing their job in the 4th quarter. From a business perspective, considering where the organization has invested most of its payroll, I think you have to say the defense has performed further below expectations. As good as they have been for three quarters most weeks, the LOB didn't earn their reputation by letting 17 and 9 point leads get away in consecutive 4th quarters. The play that beat them today was clearly a defensive breakdown (wonder if Kam's holdout is still costing this team in less obvious ways?), but the three 80-yard drives they gave up before that play (yes, that's more yards than this team is accustomed to giving up in an entire game on just three drives) weren't characteristic of an elite defense. They're still (mostly) the same players individually (Earl and Kam have been making great individual plays left and right, and Sherm's still basically owning half the field on almost every down). It's communicating and working as a unit where they are falling short of their standard. Maybe the second new defensive coordinator in as many years is dealing with some adjustment pains?

Anyway, despite the 2-4 record and the newfound propensity for folding late in games, there are some positives. For example, both the offense and the defense seem to be steadily improving from week to week (if you ignore the 4th quarters, which you probably shouldn't do, but...). Wilson's learning how to use Jimmy Graham more and more, and except for the Rams, the teams that have beaten them are clearly among the best the NFL has to offer. This might be the best 2-4 football team in history, though that's not very comforting I suppose.