Keep dreaming. I knew the crash would be the convenient post-sp topic of conversation.

No way the judges would have 'given' anything to J/C with a clean skate!!!

J/C would have had to have a purely magical, out-of-this-world, unbelievably perfect skate to top 79+ and 81+ which the judges had already put on the table for S/H and T/M.
The highest ISU score J/C have received in the sp this season is 76.55 at Europeans (and 149.11 in the fp, with a 1 point deduction). At French Nationals, J/C received 82+ in the sp, but nationals scores are usually inflated and don't count as an accurate measure for skaters. No matter how J/C skated, they weren't going to vault to 82+ from 76+. With a clean skate, maybe they could have scored in the range of 77 or 78, but not topping T/Ms and S/Hs overscores.
I didn't see Morgan's mistake on the jump because Vanessa was in the camera's line of sight and she did a triple. But when I saw the ticker box credit only a double sbs jump, I figured Morgan must have made the error. ;( In the lead-up to the competition, I was nervously thinking that Morgan is usually always rock solid. True, I've never ever seen Morgan flub a jumping pass. So as I mentioned earlier the other cases I recall of rock solid jumpers faltering, there's always a first time, usually under great pressure. Morgan surely was also picking up on Vanessa's jittery vibes. If Vanessa could have managed to land the throw, the damage might not have been as bad.
Of course, the collision during warm-up didn't help. But it is conveniently being used as a way to explain away J/C's nervous performance, and to ignore the fact that the judges were doing their best to put top-of-podium marginally out of reach for J/C at their best. Obviously, winning for J/C is now completely out of the question. Had they at least performed clean, it was still possible for J/C to stay close (perhaps in third). But the judges were NOT going to put J/C ahead of T/M. That's pretty clear. If you must, continue on making out as if ISU judges have ever been willing to truly give J/C their due.

J/C know they have to prove it, and prove it, and be absolutely perfect every time out. J/C's scores have been 'managed' since forever, particularly last season when they should have placed ahead of some of the top teams at GP events. The past couple of seasons, J/C have been the exciting team to watch, and many skaters have been influenced by their music choices, costumes and choreography. But that's still never been fully acknowledged.

This current scenario for J/C has nothing whatsoever to do with Savchenko/Massot at the Olympics, who were in 4th after Massot doubled a jump in the sp. May I remind you: J/C are not Savchenko/Massot, and J/C had errors on their throw as well as the jumping pass. Even should J/C shake off the nerves and skate clean, if everyone else skates clean, J/C will be lucky to even get close to the podium. If others ahead of them make mistakes, getting a bronze might be possible.
Of course, J/C are overall a top-notch team, and they have accomplished more this season than all of the teams in front of them. But that doesn't really count in the eyes of the judges, especially not for J/C. At this point, I do not see either T/M or S/H imploding. I'm sure those teams are thinking:
'Yes, this is the right order of things. We should be on top, not J/C!' T/M knew after Euros, they just had to be clean to possibly edge a perfect J/C. An imperfect J/C is a no-brainer slam dunk for T/M and S/H to beat.