I know we had talked about this and i have a play that shows forward progress wasnt given. should have been a gain and instead listed as a short loss

http://cust10.myfootballnow.com/watch/15#2964

How do we know he was forced back? He may well have moved backwards of his own volition in an attempt to make the defender miss and got caught, right?

I agree, that looks like a catch with forward progress, if the blue surfboard is anything to go by. I would have spotted that at the 17 yd line.
That said if you go to the next play, the forward progress is given, glitch in the gameplay I think

I think the glitch is that the defense fails to make the tackle but immediately starts a new tackle that the forward progress is reset by. I do have that in the bug list. But forward progress is being calculated correctly, it's a bug with allowing th defense to start a new tackle too soon after it has been broken.

Another reverse logic play I see is a QB scramble for a 1 yard gain but the defense will get credit for a sack