Perhaps Nigel was trying to make the following points:

1. More duals are wrestled nowadays than in the past due to the proliferation of dual tournaments; and,

2. With more duals are being wrestled, more less full teams are therefore encountered, which leads to some "easy" victories.

These two factors could then be considered to be "padding" of consecutive win streaks which contributes to diminishment of the significance of dual win streaks.

Just guessing, though.