A lot of you get mad at Retzlaff and were (are?) calling for him to be benched because of the bad decisions when he's tried to force things and ends up with a turnover. The fumble and first interception at SMU are prime examples of that. What should he do? He should take the yardage loss and live to play another down. That's what you keep saying, and you're exactly right.

ARod's 3rd and long play calling is like what Retzlaff is learning to do. He's calling plays that aren't forcing it down field, where chances of a negative result are higher (interception, or a sack because the downfield routes take longer to run, etc.). He's getting some yards. He's avoiding the increased possibility of a turnover. He's avoiding the chance at taking yourself out of field goal range, or making it a harder field goal, and instead taking the easy yards and making it an easier field goal. If you get lucky, you'll get enough YAC to convert a first down. Or maybe, you get enough yards to justify a decision to go for it on 4th down. If not, you take the field goal or you punt it and play the field position game. Live to play another series.

In short, ARod is doing exactly what he should be doing, and exactly what the best offensive coordinators do. Don't make a bad situation worse by trying to force something. Obviously, there are times when you have to take a shot, but it's not every 3rd and 8, and it's especially not 3rd and 15 in the first quarter.

I'm not trying to say that ARod is great. I'm certainly not qualified to judge that, and none of you are either. But when it comes to his 3rd and long play calling - many of you are up in the night with your criticisms.