I’ll admit when he caught the ball I yelled SLIDE, and had your same concerns.
However, I also felt that Stroud wouldn’t be able to drive the length for a TD. So I had a bit more confidence in the final outcome.
As mentioned above, the worst case was that we’d be up by less than a FG and lose it to another booming FG attempt.
Having a game wrecker on that side (Walker) was key and IMO has been the missing link in previous seasons.
Having him there will be a much bigger deal than I think we realize.