Last season, Justin Jefferson made a career-defining catch on fourth-and-18 against the Buffalo Bills in what will surely be remembered as one of his best games ever:
But Jefferson nearly outdid himself against the Detroit Lions this Christmas Eve. While not quite as impressive as the one-handed catch above that won NFL Moment of the Year in 2022, Jefferson’s highlight came in a similar situation, down a score with forever to go for a first down. Again, he made a ridiculous contested catch in front of two defenders:
Jefferson’s catch against Detroit might not live up to the impossibly high bar set by the one against the Bills. Still, the context could have vaulted Jefferson’s game against the Lions beyond his dominant 10-catch, 193-yard, one-touchdown performance in Buffalo. The Vikings faced third-and-27 because the Lions strip-sacked Nick Mullens on the previous play, and Jefferson came all the way back to recover the ball 17 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
The two plays combined show absurd hustle and feel like they represent a single player willing his team to victory during a game that could have kept the Vikings in the hunt for an NFC North division title. Consider Minnesota’s injuries. Kirk Cousins is out, forcing Mullens to play. The Vikings had major secondary issues because they were missing Byron Murphy, and the team’s second and third pass-catchers, T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison, left this game due to injury. Therefore, it felt like Jefferson was all by himself on the field.
Jefferson almost dragged the team to victory. On Minnesota’s final play, Mullens had Jefferson open in the end zone if he could just lead him to paydirt. Instead, the ball appeared to slip in Mullens’ hand as he released it, and he threw the wobbly pass behind Jefferson.
Detroit intercepted it to seal the game:
Jefferson ended the game with six catches for 141 yards and a TD. Adding in the final 30-yard play would have given him 171 yards and two TDs on the day.
On the TD Jefferson scored, we got to see great improvisation and an even better diving catch:
Jefferson has made a meaningful impact since returning to the offense. Against the Cincinnati Bengals, he made a handful of highly difficult contested catches. In the Lions game, he continued that streak. In addition to the plays above, Jefferson also sustained a catch through a hit that the officials flagged for unnecessary roughness:
Perhaps the most impressive part of Jefferson’s day was that he averaged 23.5 yards per catch, with a long of 29. Jefferson caught five passes that were thrown 20-plus yards down the field. Despite all of the explosive plays the Miami Dolphins conjure up, the fastest player in the NFL, Tyreek Hill, has never had that many in a game with Miami.
Jefferson started his day with a modest eight-yard gain on first-and-10, but all his other catches went for at least 20 yards. His last four receptions were:
- For 29 yards on third-and-19
- For 26 yards and a TD with 29 seconds left in the first half
- For 28 yards on second-and-15
- And that incredible 28-yard catch on third-and-27.
The Vikings were backed up in every one of those situations, and he came through each time.
Ultimately, Jefferson’s 2023 season will likely become a footnote for the superstar receiver. He left the Kansas City Chiefs game early with a hamstring injury and missed seven games. Then, he left the Las Vegas Raiders in an ambulance after sustaining a vicious hit. The Vikings will likely end the season on a sour note. They are now on the outside looking in at the playoffs since backup QBs have floundered in Cousins’ absence. Jefferson and Cousins clearly have great chemistry, and we’ve been robbed of a season of seeing these two in their prime.
Despite Jefferson’s missed time and Minnesota’s mediocre year, we should remember Jefferson’s 2023 season and add it to his legacy. With 823 receiving yards, Jefferson is on pace for 1,000 yards in only 10 games. He is currently 33rd in the NFL in receiving yards, and he has more receiving yards than the leading player on seven different squads despite playing in just eight of 15 games. He’s gone over 140 receiving yards in half of his games this season.
Jefferson is second to only Tyreek Hill with 102.9 receiving yards per game. That would put a healthy Jefferson on pace for 1,749 yards, eighth in NFL history. But if you take it one layer deeper, Jefferson missed about a quarter in the Chiefs game and only played about a quarter in the Raiders game. If we combine those two outputs into one game, Jefferson is averaging 117.6 yards per game. That would put him on pace to break the NFL’s receiving record at 1,999 yards — so close to his goal of 2,000 yards!
History will render the on-pace stats above meaningless, and Hill will rightfully be remembered as 2023’s best receiver. But Jefferson should have given him a run for his money.
