You know which offensive genius had a couple deadly stinkers in 22 of his 25 seasons? Tom Osborne.
Based on the criteria bandied about here, this mob would be clamoring for young Tom Osborne's head. (in fairness, a lot of folks did back then)
Tom Osborne's offenses had bad games like Bo Pelini's defenses have bad games. They happened once, MAYBE twice in a season, and other than that were generally very productive and efficient. Furthermore, if Osborne's offense had a bad game, it was usually against somebody like #1 Oklahoma. And they still usually managed to score a touchdown.
You can even make a similar comparison to Osborne's teams that Pelini now faces. Osborne always had great offense, Pelini always has great defense.
But what got Osborne over the hump was when they overhauled their defensive scheme in the early 90's, and started recruiting more speed. Pelini at some point may have to make a similar decision with his offense in order to get to the next level. Osborne was able to make the change while keeping the same coaches. We'll see if Pelini can do the same.
Anyways, Watson's bad games are more frequent, and they're also coming with championship-caliber defenses like the ones Osborne and McBride put onto the field in the mid 1990's. The best equivalent I can think of would be 1983, when Osborne had a ridiculous offense, but a below-average defense cost Nebraska the championship. Thing is, that sort of thing has happened like 5 times over the past 2 seasons with Watson, not just once.
Also, just don't ever compare Watson to Osborne. That one isn't even close.