On the blame game...I always felt the coaches and management were slightly amateurish.
This is conjecture on my part, but I never had much faith in the coaching staff. Chili Davis in particular was a coach I had very little time for. The hitters regressed massively. Carl Willis, another I wasn't fussed on. You had Pedroia helping the batters and pitchers who were on rough patches.
I just don't think they were the most organised bunch and maybe wasted some of the talent we had on our books somewhat.