Quote:In year 3 of a rebuild wins and losses are much, much more meaningful and met with a higher level of expectation. Definitely.


Yet - you are grossly oversimplifying the "reason vs. excuse" conundrum. An "excuse" in it's noun form - is traditionally the term applied to a "reason" given for an unacceptable outcome that lacks validity or doesn't meet some quantitative value. While other "reasons" that do hold up to such measures are not labeled as "excuses."


Your "any narrative" definition is overly simple and just not true in the real world. Nonetheless - it's all semantics and it really doesn't matter to the crux of the debate at hand.


Some will "excuse" the poor win/loss record as a byproduct of a patient draft-based rebuild, and some will not. I personally think there have been valid reasons to forgive many of (not all of) the losses in the past two seasons, but the validity of those reasons is quickly expiring as more talent is acquired and maturing. The burden on the coaching staff to win a significant number of games this season is real. The actual number of wins required for fans to have faith in the staff moving forward is entirely subjective.