No team had committed to stopping Minnesota Vikings star Justin Jefferson quite like the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10.
According to Minnesota Star Tribune beat reporter Ben Goessling, the Jaguars deployed split safety coverage on 92.9% of their snaps against the Vikings, the highest rate by any team, since NFL Next Gen Stats started tracking in 2018.
It’s not that Jefferson hasn’t faced that type of attention before, but Jacksonville’s commitment to sitting in shell coverage and letting Sam Darnold attack the defense underneath was unmatched — and the Vikings did not make them pay for it.
Darnold threw three interceptions, all inside the Jaguars’ 30-yard line, which led to Minnesota needing to eke out an ugly 12-7 win on November 11. Jefferson caught 5-of-9 targets for 48 yards, while Darnold’s passer rating when targeting the superstar receiver was a mere 31.0. For comparison, spiking the ball on every play would result in a 39.6 passer rating.
To make matters worse, all three of Darnold’s interceptions came on targets to Jefferson. One came on a pass breakup, but the other two were caused by Darnold not leading Jefferson.
The competitor in Jefferson was visibly frustrated during the game, but afterward, head coach Kevin O’Connell cleared the air, saying there was no lingering frustration from Jefferson.
“The dialogue’s always ongoing,” O’Connell said of Jefferson. “He’s such a heady, smart player, he understands what’s happening. You can always tell by the way he comes out of a cut and he’s double teamed or he had a guy bumping him and a safety over the top and he looks over his left shoulder and sees Josh Oliver running down the middle of the field or T.J. [Hockenson] winning on a cut over the middle, and he’s excited as anybody. He just wants to win. He’s the ultimate competitor and love everything about him.”
O’Connell Addresses Need to Exploit Defenses Selling Out to Stop Justin Jefferson
When the Vikings made Jefferson the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback, it was because they knew the benefits he brings beyond the wide receiver spot.
Last week’s game against the Jaguars was no exception. His presence helped open up the field for the Vikings, who ran a season-high 84 plays, totaled 402 yards of offense and held the ball for 42, minutes, 19 seconds, the longest time of possession by any team this season.
“There’s been many games where that kind of philosophy shows up and we’re able to get a lead and then that whole game kind of shifts and changes from how you’re trying to call it,” O’Connell said.
However, Minnesota needed to force Jacksonville to abandon its game plan.
“Give them credit, they were willing to sacrifice time of possession, the run game, tight ends working the middle of the field, things like that. And if we don’t turn the ball over maybe they look back on that as was that really the best way to go about it,” O’Connell added.
“I think when we can punch the ball in the endzone and force them to have to think about the way they’re playing, because that’s happened too. There’s been many games where that kind of philosophy shows up and we’re able to get a lead and then that whole game kind of shifts and changes from how you’re trying to call it.
The Vikings have led in the majority of games this season, which has helped keep teams honest. But for the past two weeks, Darnold has managed productive outings but failed to put teams away like he was earlier in the season.
Sam Darnold Must Clean Up Turnovers for Vikings to Make a Run
In the past two weeks, Darnold has turned the ball over six times, including five interceptions. He currently leads the league with 13 turnovers.
The past two weeks have been a far cry from his 5-0 start to the season where he threw 11 touchdowns to just four interceptions, earning NFC Offensive Player of the Month honors.
It hasn’t been an accuracy issue, either. Darnold has completed 72.2% of his passes the past two games. The turnovers have hinged on his decision-making as he often opts to hold onto the ball and force throws over just throwing the ball out of bounds.
It’s a hero-mode mentality he had to embrace when playing on poor teams in the past.
But if he cannot start making wiser decisions, better teams will punish the Vikings for his mistakes.
