“I’m just trying to be a legend” – Justin Jefferson of the Vikings channels Randy Moss with a huge game against rival Packers

MINNEAPOLIS – By the end of the first quarter on Sunday, Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson had already won 100 yards against Green Bay.

At the end of a wild back-and-forth game between rivals NFC North, the Vikings receiver had helped his team come back to 0.500 for the second time this season in a dramatic 34-31 win.

Jefferson exploded against the Packers with eight catches for 169 yards and two touchdowns, after an appearance in Week 10 against the Los Angeles Chargers in which he caught nine passes for 143 yards. He now has 11 career 100-yard games, matching Randy Moss and Juju Smith-Schuster for the second-most in a player’s first two seasons since the 1970 merger.

“I told them I wouldn’t go today without getting into the end zone,” said Jefferson. “So I’m glad I got in there twice. I told them to just blame each of us. We’re confident enough to make the catch, make a big game for the team, and me feel like we made a lot of it today. “

Jefferson didn’t reach the end zone until the second half of Sunday but was responsible for setting up two early touchdowns. His third catch of the game took a 56-yard reception to the goal line and Dalvin Cook hit a 1-yard touchdown on the next play to give the Vikings a 9-3 lead.

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On Minnesota’s subsequent drive in the second quarter, Jefferson took a 37-yard defensive pass interference penalty on a deep ball that dropped the Vikings from their own 39-yard line to Green Bay’s 24-yard line. The Vikings caught another break three moves later when an interception from Kirk Cousins ​​was nullified by a gross pass penalty on a ball destined for Jefferson. Three moves later, Adam Thielen found the end zone to set the Vikings 16: 3.

Jefferson’s first touchdown came in the third quarter with the receiver in the backcourt. He caught a 9-yard TD from an option route, a game Jefferson said he ran at LSU. This was his first career reception from the backfield in the NFL.

“Everyone knows he’s not there to protect,” joked coach Mike Zimmer after the game.

Jefferson’s second score helped the Vikings regain the lead from Green Bay when he caught a 23-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. After Minnesota successfully implemented a two-point attempt with Cook, Minnesota took the lead 31:24, only to catch the game moments later when the Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers scantling Marquez Valdes for a 75 yard -Touchdown on the first game of Green Bay hit following ride.

Including Sunday’s game – which was due to Greg Joseph kicking a 29-yard field goal to give Minnesota the win – the Vikings had five games in which the game was won on the final play. According to Elias, this binds most of the games since the 1970 merger.

“That’s why we’re in a rivalry,” said Cook. “I’ve got to know this rivalry since I’ve been here. It’s special. There is a relationship. We want to win when we know the atmosphere that it is, it’s fun. We wanted to have the ball in our hands.”

The Green Bay defense learned a tough lesson on Sunday: playing soft cover against Jefferson just won’t be enough.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Jefferson was in cover two-thirds of the time against Green Bay (where the defender pre-snapped 5+ yards from the receiver) and produced 139 yards, the second most from any receiver in a game that season.

Overall, the defense of Green Bay could not slow down the vastness of the Vikings. Minnesota’s receivers caught 69% of their goals for 277 yards and three touchdowns, with Jefferson and Thielen together catching 16 of their 20 goals. This was after the Packers stepped into the day and allowed wide receivers (56%) the lowest completion percentage in the NFL.

Minnesota’s offensive identity found a surge of aggressiveness that carried over from the Chargers win to the game at Green Bay, with Cousins ​​averaging 9.7 yards per pass in a day of 341 yards and three touchdowns with a 128 , Threw 4 passport scoring.

“Of course we’ve been pretty aggressive the last few weeks and we have to see from week to week and game to game, moment by moment, how we decide to attack, but we certainly feel good with the people we get, to throw the ball. ” and that goes way beyond Justin and Adam, “said Cousins.” KJ [Osborn], Tyler Conklin and Dalvin and Alex [Mattison] – there is a lot of production to throw the football. “

Cousins ​​had one of his best games of the season en route to Minnesota’s biggest win of the season. The quarterback came under pressure with 131 yards and two touchdowns, his second most yards and tied for his most touchdowns, while under pressure with every win of his career, according to ESPN Stats & Information Research.

During the pre-game warm-up exercises, Jefferson wore a T-shirt in homage to legendary Viking recipient Randy Moss. After Jefferson broke Moss’ rookie records a year ago, Jefferson seems to be upping the ante every week while serving as the catalyst for getting his team back in position for one of the bottom two spots in the NFC playoffs to fight.

“That’s the same way of thinking as me, I’m just trying to be a legend,” Jefferson said. “I try to make big games. Why not go after him? He’s one of the best in the game. I just love playing the game, love the rivalry, and love those intense big games.”