The Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints treated football fans to a great game Sunday morning when they faced off across the pond in England. Despite the game missing some star power because of injuries, it turned out to be an exciting matchup. A lot of that had to do with the presence of star wide receiver Justin Jefferson on the field.
It went right down to the wire as the Vikings pulled out a 28-25 victory. The Saints had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds but Will Lutz’s 61-yard field goal bounced off the upright and hit the crossbar before falling short in the endzone. It seemed fitting that a game played in London, where soccer rules over all other sports, would come down to a kick.
A big reason for the Vikings pulling out the close victory was the performance of wide receiver Justin Jefferson. After a dominant performance in Week 1 over the Green Bay Packers when he caught nine passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns, Jefferson has been very quiet.
In the following two games combined he caught nine passes for 62 yards and no scores. Many people thought it could be more of the same in London, as he would be matched up with one of the premier cornerbacks in the NFL in Marshon Lattimore.
When Lattimore isn’t getting into physical altercations with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Mike Evans, he is one of the best cover corners in the league. On Sunday he certainly didn’t look like it, as Jefferson got the best of the star-studded matchup.
According to PFF, Jefferson had his way against Lattimore all game. They were matched up with each other throughout, with Jefferson receiving 10 targets against Lattimore. He turned them into seven catches for 93 yards. Five of the seven receptions went for 10+ yards.
Overall, Jefferson caught 10 passes for 147 yards, adding a three-yard rushing touchdown to round out his stat line. The Saints just had no answer for slowing down the star receiver, as he will face another strong test next week when the Vikings host their NFC North rivals the Chicago Bears.
