It had been seven weeks since Justin Jefferson caught a touchdown pass, and one had to wonder whether the NFL’s best wide receiver remembered where the end zone was.
The swarming coverage opponents have used to blanket Jefferson has created ample opportunity for wingman Jordan Addison to exploit single coverage and force teams to play Whack-A-Mole at their peril.
Jefferson and Addison ventilated Atlanta’s secondary and turned U.S. Bank Stadium into their personal playground Sunday, connecting with Sam Darnold on five touchdowns in a 42-21 blowout of the Falcons.
Addison and Jefferson became the first Vikings receiving duo to each record 100-plus yards and two-plus touchdowns in a game. Randy Moss and Cris Carter couldn’t pull that off as Addison and Jefferson became just the seventh pair of teammates in NFL history to each have 130-plus receiving yards and at least two touchdown catches in a game.
“Obviously, they’re really good players, so to be able to find them whenever I get a chance to is a benefit for the entire team,” said Darnold, who had his best game as a pro.
Addison had 133 yards and three scores while Jefferson added 132 and a pair of touchdowns. The duo was targeted a whopping 19 times as the Vikings’ passing game exploded to rack up 40 points for the first time in more than five years.
“We always say we’re the best duo in the league and today we had the best opportunity to show the world,” said Jefferson, 26, who became the youngest wide receiver to amass 7,000 career yards. “We understand we’re not going to get that every single game, but to put that on tape today, to have dominant performances by two receivers on the same team, the sky’s the limit for sure.”
Darnold connected with Jefferson for a 52-yard strike and another 49-yarder to Addison, part of a 347-yard passing attack for Darnold that pummeled the Falcons after they rallied to tie the game at 21 late in the third quarter.
Jefferson beat his defender to the inside to haul in a 12-yard strike from Darnold to give Minnesota a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. In the third, Darnold scrambled to avoid a sack and found a wide-open Jefferson downfield for an easy stroll into the end zone after Falcons cornerback Mike Hughes backpedaled and fell down trying to chase him down.
It was the first time Jefferson scored since Oct. 20 against Detroit and it felt like divine intervention.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Jefferson acknowledged. “I definitely had to thank the lord after that first one. It’s been a long time just getting that double team in the red zone, triple sometimes. Today, it was a little bit of that man-to-man on the motion.”
Meanwhile, Addison also had a 42-yard catch in the fourth quarter, giving him six of 40-plus yards this season, second only to Ja’Marr Chase’s seven with Cincinnati.
“It was in the game plan this week,” Addison said. “If they were going to play us a certain type of way, we’re going to have some opportunities. I feel like we capitalized on all them.
“The safety was either biting on me or biting on (Jefferson). Whoever they took, we just hit the other one. I was surprised. I think we’re going to see a lot more two-high (safety coverage) now.”
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