It was the battle of star wide receivers in Buffalo, and Justin Jefferson showed why he’s the NFL’s best.
Stefon Diggs caught 12 passes for 128 yards off 16 targets in the Bills’ 33-30 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Even with Kirk Cousins seemingly making every attempt to give the game away, the 11th-year quarterback knew who to give the ball to. Jefferson had 10 receptions for 193 yards and a touchdown off 16 targets.
One of his catches arguably saved Minnesota’s season. Coming out of the two-minute warning, on fourth-and-18, Cousins heaved up a pass to Jefferson who caught it with one hand at the same time cornerback Cam Lewis made a play on the ball. The third-year receiver never gave up and miraculously came away with the ball to keep the drive alive.
” … There’s not a lot of scheme that you can find in that moment,” head coach Kevin Kevin O’Connell told reporters, per team-provided video. “It was about player and our quarterback and the two of them, behind good protection, in a go-to-have-it moment. Tried to give him a chance to make a play and it happened right in front of me. One of the more remarkable catches that I’ve even seen. He’s such a special, special player.”
The Vikings didn’t score on the drive, but a series of wild events occurred, and Minnesota escaped Buffalo with a victory — ensuring Jefferson’s catch didn’t go lost.
“The ball was catching him today,” K.J. Osborn said of Jefferson’s day, per Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune.
Per team-provided video, Justin Jefferson added: “Just the way my body went up, him catching the ball in his hands and me taking it from him, the whole play was crazy. But it starts with the O-line, it starts with blocking, giving Kirk that time to give me that opportunity to go up to make a play. It’s not me. It’s a collective team win. So many people played so many different parts in this win, just glad to be 8-1.”
As Jefferson said, the Vikings are 8-1 after Week 10 and are second in the NFC behind the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles. Minnesota showed it can always lean on its star receiver even in games where Cousins isn’t at his best, which could make it a tough matchup for the New England Patriots on Thanksgiving Day.
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