Yeah that's quite toxic. If the project is successful, the top level gets the praise for the vision. If it doesn't, the team gets the blame for lousy execution.
The responsible for executing should have a day in a lot more things, else it's gonna be a blame game.
You had it right with your first statement. Blame always goes to the top. They don’t do anything, making decisions is easy, compared to actually getting it done on a deadline.
Get all the credit when things go well, deserve all the blame when things don’t. Because it’s also poor management when your workers aren’t properly managed and thus don’t properly build out your vision.
The responsible for executing should have a day in a lot more things, else it's gonna be a blame game.