How was Justin Jefferson so wide open?
The Vikings' star receiver went for 184 yards in the opener against the Packers
By Matthew Coller
It’s not all that unusual for Justin Jefferson to be open. It’s a little unusual for him to as wide open as he was on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers when he went for 184 yards on nine catches in the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 opening victory.
Not that we should be surprised. Jefferson spent the offseason making it clear to the world that he wants to unseat Davante Adams as the undisputed WR1 and he throttled his own defenders all summer long in camp while preparing for his statement game against Green Bay. Jefferson hinted in interviews that this offense was built for him and wink, wink, nod, nod, did you see what Cooper Kupp did with some of the same schematics?
So what specifically led him to being so wide open? Interestingly Jefferson was only used as a slot receiver on 35% of plays, per PFF, which deviates from Kupp, who is among the most used in the slot in the league. But alignment did turn out to be key along with motions, concepts and the sheer excellence possessed by a receiver without a weakness.
Let’s start out by looking at his catches on the first drive. On third down Jefferson is lined up outside in a 3x1 formation. The Packers play press coverage with a safety to Jefferson’s side but he comes down to cover the underneath route from the tight end leaving a single deep safety in coverage and setting up Jefferson one-on-one. The slot receiver runs a deep cross, which gives Jefferson the entire side of the field to operate. And operate he does, snapping out of his route and leaving the defender in the dust. Kirk Cousins hits his back foot and fires on time and on target.
There were a number of plays where the Packers’ defensive scheme was head scratching. Having no deep help to Jefferson’s side on a third down certainly qualifies.
Speaking of which, Jefferson’s next reception on the drive came when he was lined up against Packers linebacker Quay Walker. There is nothing complex about this play and no pre-snap motion. How did that matchup happen? Well, for starters the Packers were very concerned about getting beat over the top and had both safeties lined up in the parking lot. Adam Thielen runs a go route down the sideline drawing the attention of the deep safety, opening up space underneath.
The other part is personnel. The Vikings put five players on the line of scrimmage but two of them are the tight end and running back. The Packers’ defense had a matching personnel package to play against a RB and tight end and put their nickel corner to the strong side but the Vikings out their best two receivers to the weak side.
Opponents may look for some answer to this idea in the future but there’s no easy solution because if they start playing an extra defensive back then Dalvin Cook is going to run wild, especially with the Vikings’ offensive line run blocking well on Sunday.
Our next clip is where things get interesting with pre-snap trickery. On Jefferson’s first touchdown they shift one receiver and then bring Jefferson on a jet motion where he’s still running behind the QB when the snap is taken. The Packers’ defender is signaling for an adjustment in which another player is supposed to cover Jefferson but it’s too late. Two Packers take Thielen, nobody takes Jefferson, touchdown.
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