Bill's a great coach, and his decision to let Groh take the lead GM-wise was obviously a smart one given their overall group of players this year. But obviously, his decision on Patricia is questionable, which is clearly playing a big role in what has been a frustrating season on offense.
Would they be better under Reich or Payton? Good question, but I think Bill is a better overall game-planner than both and better in pressure situations. I also feel like that's why aside from Thursday night, the Patriots have been in pretty much every game this year with a couple of plays here or there being the difference. He's always been outstanding at that, and the players always take the field seemingly with zero question about what they need to do, especially defensively. Having watched the Saints with Brees at QB, I didn't see that overall from Payton, and I can't give a good opinion on Reich because other than the Patriots match-ups, I really didn't see or watch anything they did.
But I agree, losing Ernie was big and losing Scar was big. But clearly, losing McDaniels has probably been a little more significant than we hoped it would be.