No, you are wrong about the timeline and what happened when. It is explained pretty clearly in the NYT article: "True, JCPenney.com’s showing in Google searches

No, you are wrong about the timeline and what happened when. It is explained pretty clearly in the NYT article: "True, JCPenney.com’s showing in Google searches had declined slightly by Feb. 8, as the algorithm change began to take effect. In "comforter sets," Penney went from No. 1 to No. 7. In "sweater dresses," from No. 1 to No. 10." That happened the day before Google took manual action. BTW, going from #1 to #7 and #10 is not just a "slight decline."