Oof, that's a pretty terrible decision. It goes directly against not only the stated functionality of the system prior to launch, but directly against the stated goal of the change as well - all communication in advance of this patch said that it was supposed to be a boost to the amount of weekly progress that could be earned, not a massive nerf to catchup as you say it should be now.
Hopefully the pushback against this causes you to reconsider the change.