diff --git a/web3_proxy/src/app/mod.rs b/web3_proxy/src/app/mod.rs
index 499cbe01..8202ce32 100644
--- a/web3_proxy/src/app/mod.rs
+++ b/web3_proxy/src/app/mod.rs
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::time::Duration;
 use tokio::select;
 use tokio::sync::{broadcast, mpsc, oneshot, watch, Semaphore};
-use tokio::task::JoinHandle;
+use tokio::task::{yield_now, JoinHandle};
 use tokio::time::{sleep, timeout, timeout_at, Instant};
 use tracing::{error, info, trace, warn};
 
@@ -584,6 +584,8 @@ impl App {
                             _ = new_top_config_receiver.changed() => {}
                         }
                     }
+
+                    yield_now().await;
                 }
 
                 Ok(())
@@ -1140,72 +1142,50 @@ impl App {
         // TODO: trace/kafka log request.params before we send them to _proxy_request_with_caching which might modify them
 
         // turn some of the Web3ProxyErrors into Ok results
-        let max_tries = 3;
-        loop {
-            let tries = web3_request.backend_requests.lock().len();
+        let (code, response) = match self._proxy_request_with_caching(&web3_request).await {
+            Ok(response_data) => {
+                web3_request.error_response.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
+                web3_request
+                    .user_error_response
+                    .store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
 
-            if tries > 0 {
-                // exponential backoff with jitter
-                // TODO: wait for RankedRpcs to change instead of this arbitrary sleep
-                // TODO: refresh the head block and any replacements of "latest" on the web3_request?
-                sleep(Duration::from_millis(100)).await;
+                (StatusCode::OK, response_data)
             }
+            Err(err @ Web3ProxyError::NullJsonRpcResult) => {
+                web3_request.error_response.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
+                web3_request
+                    .user_error_response
+                    .store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
 
-            let (code, response) = match self._proxy_request_with_caching(&web3_request).await {
-                Ok(response_data) => {
-                    web3_request.error_response.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
-                    web3_request
-                        .user_error_response
-                        .store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
+                err.as_json_response_parts(web3_request.id())
+            }
+            Err(Web3ProxyError::JsonRpcResponse(response_data)) => {
+                web3_request.error_response.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
+                web3_request
+                    .user_error_response
+                    .store(response_data.is_error(), Ordering::Relaxed);
 
-                    (StatusCode::OK, response_data)
-                }
-                Err(err @ Web3ProxyError::NullJsonRpcResult) => {
-                    web3_request.error_response.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
-                    web3_request
-                        .user_error_response
-                        .store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
+                let response =
+                    jsonrpc::ParsedResponse::from_response_data(response_data, web3_request.id());
+                (StatusCode::OK, response.into())
+            }
+            Err(err) => {
+                // max tries exceeded. return the error
 
-                    err.as_json_response_parts(web3_request.id())
-                }
-                Err(Web3ProxyError::JsonRpcResponse(response_data)) => {
-                    web3_request.error_response.store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
-                    web3_request
-                        .user_error_response
-                        .store(response_data.is_error(), Ordering::Relaxed);
+                web3_request.error_response.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+                web3_request
+                    .user_error_response
+                    .store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
 
-                    let response = jsonrpc::ParsedResponse::from_response_data(
-                        response_data,
-                        web3_request.id(),
-                    );
-                    (StatusCode::OK, response.into())
-                }
-                Err(err) => {
-                    if tries <= max_tries {
-                        // TODO: log the error before retrying
-                        continue;
-                    }
+                err.as_json_response_parts(web3_request.id())
+            }
+        };
 
-                    // max tries exceeded. return the error
+        web3_request.add_response(&response);
 
-                    web3_request.error_response.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
-                    web3_request
-                        .user_error_response
-                        .store(false, Ordering::Relaxed);
+        let rpcs = web3_request.backend_rpcs_used();
 
-                    err.as_json_response_parts(web3_request.id())
-                }
-            };
-
-            web3_request.add_response(&response);
-
-            let rpcs = web3_request.backend_rpcs_used();
-
-            // there might be clones in the background, so this isn't a sure thing
-            let _ = web3_request.try_send_arc_stat();
-
-            return (code, response, rpcs);
-        }
+        (code, response, rpcs)
     }
 
     /// main logic for proxy_cached_request but in a dedicated function so the try operator is easy to use
diff --git a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/many.rs b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/many.rs
index f7956464..af8cb3af 100644
--- a/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/many.rs
+++ b/web3_proxy/src/rpcs/many.rs
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ impl Web3Rpcs {
         // TODO: limit number of tries
         let rpcs = self.try_rpcs_for_request(web3_request).await?;
 
-        let stream = rpcs.to_stream();
+        let stream = rpcs.to_stream().take(3);
 
         pin!(stream);
 
@@ -640,11 +640,8 @@ impl Web3Rpcs {
 
         let watch_consensus_rpcs_receivers = self.watch_ranked_rpcs.receiver_count();
 
-        let watch_consensus_head_receivers = if let Some(ref x) = self.watch_head_block {
-            Some(x.receiver_count())
-        } else {
-            None
-        };
+        let watch_consensus_head_receivers =
+            self.watch_head_block.as_ref().map(|x| x.receiver_count());
 
         json!({
             "conns": rpcs,