The New York Times said the Americans lacked fire while The Boston Globe suggested that fat cat US players were too sheltered and just not good enough.
Tiger Woods had his own theories about why the US Ryder Cup team was thoroughly drubbed, 18-1/2 points to 9-1/2 for a second straight time by Europe's inspired dozen.
Woods blamed poor putting and a format he said worked against the Americans, who often fell behind early and were unable to make up ground in what he termed an 18-hole sprint compared to the 72-hole marathon of major championship golf.
"It's match play over 18 holes and anything can happen in an 18-hole sprint," Woods said.
"When you play a 72-hole stroke-play event, all you're looking for is one shot (lead) over 72 holes. It's more of a marathon.
"In stroke play you could be three down after the first nine holes but you've got 63 holes to go. In match play, it can turn pretty quickly."
Newspaper columnists made other observations. "Our lads have got their private jets, their sumptuous homes, their seven and eight figures socked away in the bank, and their 17 majors. What they do not have, for the third straight time, is possession of the Ryder Cup," wrote Globe columnist Bob Ryan.
He suggested the Americans, losers of five of the last six Ryder Cups, were by now overshadowed by the youthful talent and worldly experience of the Europeans.
"The Euros are far more cosmopolitan. They bounce around the globe. They play and operate in all kinds of conditions," Ryan said.
Dave Anderson of The New York Times said US golfers might benefit from tough love and raw emotion.
"The party line for United States golf's bunch of losers, alias the Ryder Cup team, is that they're too tight, too tentative, too conscious of trying not to lose rather than trying to win," wrote Anderson.
The Times columnist said a fiery coach, like football's legendary Vince Lombardi, was needed to stoke their emotions.
Woods said for the first time in his four Ryder Cups a spirit of camaraderie led US players to party with their European counterparts on Sunday night after the dueling was over.
"Both teams hung out with each other last night, which is, I think the way the spirit of the Ryder Cup is supposed to be," Woods said on Monday.
Woods said eight European Ryder Cuppers - Darren Clarke, Luke Donald, Colin Montgomerie, Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington, David Howell, Henrik Stenson and Jose Maria Olazabal - were among 16 players competing in the Target World Challenge event he hosts in December to benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation.
Woods said an infusion of youth was needed to bolster US Ryder prospects, noting Europe's youthful edge with Garcia, 26, Donald, 28 and Casey, 29. "They have a younger crop of players who are playing well. When our youngest player is 30 years old, that's not a positive thing," said the world number one.