The problem isn't going for it on 4th and short in FG range. The problem is the plays that are called.
But, TexArcher! The graphic above shows that we converted on 7 of 14, 50%. That's pretty good, no?
Well, that number is before Saturday. And does anybody want to run the win/loss records of the teams we converted against and the teams we didn't before Saturday? The shit we call usually doesn't work against better defenses, as we just saw, again.
And it's not just the 4th and short -- it's the whole red zone. Multiple times, we marched down the field, then we asked Arch Manning to run like Tim Tebow, and by the way, what no one is talking about is that if Arch gets hurt, we go from 11-1 to 8-4 in a hurry. And we tried a QB sneak against a team with like 9 goal line stands the last couple of years. Brilliant. Let's bet the whole season (Arch's health) on a series of plays with like a 10% chance of working.
Going for it is analytically correct. How we go for it is really stupid a lot of the time.
Also, if your head coach sucks at 4th and short play calling, it doesn't mean you ignore the analytics and start settling for the field goals. It means you address the issue of your head coach sucking at 4th and short play calling by getting someone else to call the plays. I like Sark overall, but if he really wants us to win, he needs to put his ego aside and do the obvious.