T.J. Hockenson's decision to slide instead of scoring TD was the correct one

· Yahoo Sports

T.J. Hockenson caught the pass, his 13th of the day, and saw the purple paint of the end zone out in front of him. He could have easily scored what would’ve been just the Vikings’ second offensive touchdown in their last three games. It would’ve given Minnesota a 12-point lead with two minutes left and the Dolphins out of timeouts. The win probability in that situation might’ve been something like 99 percent.

But the Vikings had discussed this before the snap. They spend time every week preparing to be “situational masters.” If they got a first down on the play, whoever had the ball was instructed to go down inbounds. So that’s what Hockenson did. He gave himself up and kept the clock moving to the two-minute warning. All the Vikings had to do was take a knee three times without messing up a snap. It was a win probability of 99.9 percent, and they executed it to finish off a 15-10 victory that moves them to 4-0 on the season.

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Any gambler who bet on the Vikings to cover the spread in Sunday’s game didn’t like the decision. Hockenson could’ve added another touchdown to his stat line, and the overall day for Minnesota’s offense might’ve looked a little better on paper with 22 points instead of 15. But Hockenson absolutely made the correct decision to go down and end the game. In the NFL, wins are what matters. Not individual stats. Certainly not betting lines.

“We got situational masters,” Hockenson said. “It was tough, I saw that goal line, wanted it, but for the betterment of the team, we can end it on offense, and that’s the way to go. … There was a lot of grass in front of me, and seeing paint is always fun. But again, whatever it takes to win the game. That’s the whole mindset.”

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