The NFL’s best wideout continues to amaze.
Justin Jefferson put on another dominant performance in Saturday’s last-minute win once morest the Giants. He caught 12 balls for 133 yards and a touchdown, breaking the Randy Moss franchise record for receiving yards in a season. It’s an incredible achievement for the Vikings superstar in just his third year as a pro.
Jefferson is rushing for 1,756 yards going into the last two games of the season, just 208 yards from Calvin Johnson’s NFL record. Surpassing that mark will be difficult, but if he can maintain his 117 yards per game average, it would be easy. And his last two opponents, two rivals from the NFC North, know full well how impossible it can be to stop him.
The Packers were front row when Jefferson rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns with nine catches in the season opener, while the Bears allowed him 12 catches for 154 yards a month later. Somehow these outstanding performances don’t even come close to his two best performances of the year.
While it’s hard to believe in the Vikings heading into the playoffs — weekly late-game exploits to beat underdogs aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring — the results of tight contests aren’t so much a matter of luck or bad luck , when you have a difference maker like Jefferson on your side.
Opponents have tried everything and little has worked. As he did play following play to help Minnesota win No. 12, Jefferson has a penchant for taking the lead when the game is on the line and how far he’s taking this team in January can, will be an important story of the postseason. Opposing teams might want the Vikings in the first round of the playoffs, but their defensive backs certainly don’t.
