I didn’t like the play call either but saying it was “going soft” in that moment is a little off, IMO.
A lot of play callers call a similar play in that situation, hoping defense is playing pass and you pick up a decent chunk of yards on 1st down to set-up a manageable 2nd down.
Assuming he doesn’t fumble, they take play clock down, and likely look to throw on 2nd down but have used a chunk of game clock so if 2nd down goes poorly, you stay conservative on 3rd, punt, and take it to half up 17-7 which isn’t terrible.
But if that play goes for 5-6 yards, they’d have gone tempo knowing they had 2nd and 3rd down to pick up a manageable distance.
Anyways, the run game hasn’t been great…CJ’s momentum had been stopped and I also don’t believe it should’ve been a fumble, had officials blown whistle properly. That said, u can’t lose the rock there….its the last thing you can do in that situation.