Kenny Rogers said it best -- You gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em. And in the final two minutes of the first half between the Vikings and Bengals' Week 15 matchup, Nick Mullens didn't know what to do with the football.
The veteran quarterback got his first start of the season on Saturday and had the Minnesota offense pushing for points before halftime to add to their 7-3 lead. With a timeout in their pocket and sitting on the Bengals 16-yard line, the Vikings were at the very least guaranteed a field goal opportunity so long as they played it smart. They didn't.
Mullens was sacked on the second-and-1 play, which forced the Vikings to burn that final timeout with 31 seconds left in the half. On third down, Mullens dropped back and was again under siege, but instead of simply taking the sack, he tried to throw the football away to stop the clock. However, Mullens was already 80% of the way down to the turf and the ball ended up falling into the arms of Bengals defensive tackle B.J. Hill for one of the wildest interceptions of the season.
B.J. Hill makes one of the wildest big man INTs of the season!
— NFL (@NFL) December 16, 2023
📺: MINvsCIN on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/vtmfEKvOLy pic.twitter.com/qLCtwmwtQP
While it's understandable Mullens would want to stop the clock and get the field goal unit on the field, the wiser play would've been to simply hang onto the football and take the sack. The Bengals were unable to make the Vikings fully pay for the turnover as they couldn't march down the field for a late first-half score, but it completely erased an opportunity for Minnesota.
That was Mullens' second interception of the half and both came inside the red zone. For Hill, this was his second interception in as many weeks as he logged an pick off Gardner Minshew of the Colts in Week 14.
