But heat of the moment with dudes flying at you is different than on the sideline between plays. On the 3rd and 1 he should have taken a sack (clock rolls and then you punt). On the 2nd and 11 he should have thrown it away (stayed in FG range). That said, pass plays were called for the purposes of making a play, which is what he tried to do. Since really the only thing that needed to happen in both situations was to not fuck up....run plays should have been called.
I think most people are more forgiving of in-game mistakes by players due to the degree of difficulty.