A Star is Born: Justin Jefferson's breakout is game-changer for Vikings despite loss to Titans
Rookie receiver exploded in his first NFL start
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So do we question why the Minnesota Vikings didn’t play Justin Jefferson more in the first two games or do we figure that he wasn’t quite ready until Week 3?
Earlier in the week, offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak said the team believed they brought him along the right way and maybe without preseason action the Vikings’ first-round pick needed a couple games to ramp things up.
Either way, Jefferson dominated Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans. His emergence could become a turning point for the Vikings’ offense.
The first-round pick from LSU got the start after two weeks of playing the No. 3 role and largely playing out of the slot in three-receiver sets. In college, Jefferson was one of the nation’s best receivers last season as a pure slot receiver but in interviews he bristled at the idea that was the only role he could handle. On Sunday he proved to be extremely right.
Jefferson played a complete all-around game, sometimes taking quick passes underneath from the slot and other times going deep down the field.
From the look of first two drives, however, it wasn’t clear that anyone was going to shine. The Vikings started with a three-and-out in which Kirk Cousins took a sack and then on the following possession Dalvin Cook fumbled.
That’s when Kubiak decided to mash the Jefferson button.
Down 6-0 midway through the first quarter, Cousins hit Jefferson on a quick pass for 11 yards to get them to midfield. Two plays later, Cousins went to Jefferson again and the rookie receiver fought through a tackle for a first down.
In training camp Jefferson showed on a daily basis his special athleticism. Some guys just move differently from everyone else. That was on display. Even if his route running isn’t as refined as someone like Adam Thielen, he’s just a better athlete than any of the Titans defensive backs.
Cook exploded for a 39-yard touchdown to put the Vikings up one and suddenly the offense looked more like what we expected from them heading into the season.
After a Harrison Smith interception at the goal line, Kubiak decided if the Titans weren’t good enough to hang with Jefferson, he was going to keep going there. But his next catch was different. His next catch showed something that he didn’t often flash in college because of his role in the LSU offense: A legitimate deep threat.
Jefferson roasted the Titans’ cornerback down the sideline and snatched the ball out of the air for a 31-yard pass down the sideline. He did it lining up as an outside receiver. There was nothing schemed about it. One versus one. Jefferson is better than you are.
Cousins targeted him again at the goal line but appeared to be slightly late on the throw, otherwise the rookie might have pulled in his first touchdown. Instead Cousins found Thielen for a touchdown on a terrific dime to the back of the end zone.
You can already see the dominos falling: If teams have to pay attention to Jefferson, they can’t put all the attention on Thielen anymore.
The Vikings got the ball back at the end of the half and the rookie decided it was time to go over 100 yards for the first time. He got open on an intermediate route and then took off for a 31-yard gain.
If you’re questioning the Vikings’ lack of Jefferson usage in the first two weeks, that’s your case: Even if he didn’t know the entire offense inside and out, Jefferson’s playmaking ability made him a weapon.
But Sunday’s performance made it clear that won’t be a criticism of the Vikings’ offense anymore.
The second half opened with Cousins looking Jefferson’s way and flinging an easy interception. But in a way, the QB who doesn’t always trust his receivers throwing it toward the first-year player as a fight-or-flight response was progress from the first two weeks in which Cousins appeared to only throw it Thielen’s way in a panic.
The Vikings got a huge break when Jadeveon Clowney committed an illegal block on Jefferson, which negated the touchdown. And then the Vikings’ suddenly-competent defense stopped the Titans and forced a punt.
Up 17-12 early in the third quarter, Jefferson decided that his first half wasn’t enough proof that he can be an NFL star. The Vikings ran a classic Kubiak play-action bootleg and the Titans’ defense hesitated for a second, giving the blazing fast rookie enough room to blow by the Tennessee corner and run wide open.
Once he caught the ball — say about 40 yards in the air — that’s when it got special. He dodged two tacklers at the sideline and literally danced into the end zone for a 71-yard score.
Remember the rumors the Vikings were going to trade for Odell Beckham this offseason? Well, Jefferson looked like Beckham’s early days with the Giants on Sunday. Also remember when people wondered if the Vikings didn’t know how to draft a first-round receiver because Laquon Treadwell went bust?
Late in the third quarter, the Vikings’ defense that hung on tight for most of the game fell apart. Derrick Henry got rolling after Jefferson’s score and broke off runs of 12, five and six yards and then Tannehill went deep to Corey Davis for a 38-yard grab that took the Titans to the goal line. Henry blasted in the ball from the goal line to bring Tennessee to a five-point deficit.
The Vikings didn’t look Jefferson’s way on the next drive, instead hitting Chad Beebe on third-and-10 for a seven yard gain. The Titans immediately took advantage, running a play-action shot play deep down the field to Kalif Raymond, who raced by rookie Jeff Gladney for 61 yards. Henry again slammed it in for a touchdown to give the Titans the lead.
A 25-24 game was exactly the type of matchup we thought we’d see heading into the year with a rebuilding defense.
The Vikings fired back with two explosive runs from Cook, who set a career high in rushing yards against the Titans and a Cousins 15-yard scramble. Cousins capped the drive by panicking in the right way this time, flinging the ball to Kyle Rudolph in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to put the Vikings up five after the failed two-point conversion.
The Vikings committed a key drive-killing penalty that opened the door for the Titans to take the lead on a long field goal to put them up 31-30 with 1:44 remaining.
On the final drive, Cousins was hit in the face for a 15-yard penalty but a mistake on the snap pushed them back to fourth-and-27. The Titans picked off a Hail Mary toss and finished off the victory.
The Vikings are now 0-3 and this week’s game came in crushing fashion but the takeaway feeling is much different than in the first two games. Jefferson’s explosion onto the scene suddenly makes the offense worth watching. This may not be a week to study playoff scenarios but it will be a year to watch a rising rookie receiver.
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Great article, and all very true. JJ looks to be a legit star in the making.
I also was very happy with the overall effort: coaches' schemes, players' effort. Even though they lost, I am fine with that if they are developing talent for next year, have a decent game plan and give full effort for the entire game. We didn't see that in Weeks 1-2, so I was very down on the team. We saw that in Wk 3, and I could live with that for rest of year. In fact, I told a friend that my dream season is now that the Vikings lose all of their remaining games by 1 point while the team grooms and develops young talent for next year.
Still not a fan of the KFC extension and what that does to the salary cap and our options at QB going forward, but at least he played hard this week and made a lot of good throws. And if Samia can start improving, maybe the OL won't be a complete overhaul next year.
I would like to see Cleveland get some playing time at some point this season, as I don't think players can improve on the bench. We don't have much chance of making the playoffs this year with out defense and OL the way they are, so why not get Cleveland into games at some point this season?
Anyway, happy after the loss because at least the Vikings were trying and improving -- and it looks like some of the young guys could be big contributors in 2021.
Progress yes. One-point losses at home, it’s a fork in the eye. While Jefferson had a lot of targets in the first half and to start the second, I wish Cousins could have found him in the fourth quarter when we really needed the offense to sit on the ball. It seemed like there was a couple of three-and-outs when Tennessee surged to two touchdowns during crunch time. I thought Cook player well—hard yards inside and speedy easier yards outside. Irv Smith Jr. had another costly penalty and if Holton Hill makes a pick, he’s the hero. After the first game, I wrote that the fans will stick with this team as long as they made progress...and for the first time, they took steps in the right direction. Moral victory yes. Real victory continues to be a phantom for the 2020 Vikes.