I hope I'm not in the minority - I love the (over)analysis and considering the amount of posts written without giving any thought, I feel fortunate to see this type of detail. I would have loved to rewatch the second half to see how things went astray, but its way more convenient spending 10 minutes reading about it.
I do agree with tenspro that not flashing people to the middle was a slightly bigger issue than you believe. Even if it not wide open, the defense still collapses and leads to more openings overall. Giffey is ideal for this role, and as mentioned, we had success with running Bazz to the line last year. DD was also good in this position, even with his flaws, simply because he scored so well from here. DD actually did flash several times last night (if my memory serves) but quickly bailed to set a screen for Bazz. Can you imagine that we spent a year watching AO try make sound decisions from the high post v. zone D?