Radio he can use notes and they've been friendly small-audience locals. The events have mostly been on teleprompter. It's just not nearly enough. He needed to immediately do a live town hall w/ voters and knock it out of the park, plus a ton of national interviews. If he can't, it proves the point.
I find your optimism about how reality-grounded the criticisms are to be enviable, in this regard I am way more of a cranky cynic who thinks the NYT at a minimum would just keep blasting no matter what.
Maybe the other organs wouldn't have followed their lead, though.