The Packers denied their best cornerback the chance to defend Justin Jefferson — and paid the price
AP Photo/Abbie Parr
- Justin Jefferson had a monster game for the Minnesota Vikings against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
- Jefferson finished the game with nine receptions for 184 yards and two touchdowns.
- Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander had asked to shadow Jefferson heading into the game, but was overruled by his coaches.
Justin Jefferson had himself a day against the Green Bay Packers, going off for nine catches, 184 yards, and two touchdowns.
Jefferson's monster game helped lift the Vikings to a dominant 23-7 win over a listless Packers team.
His first score of the day was easy. Facing fourth down in the red zone in the first quarter, Jefferson motioned into space at the snap and waltzed untouched into the end zone.
—NFL (@NFL) September 11, 2022
Just before halftime, Kirk Cousins found Jefferson again, this time without a defender within 10 yards of him. With that much space to operate, no one was stopping him.
—NFL (@NFL) September 11, 2022
For the Packers defense, Jefferson's big day was embarrassing. While he's one of the best receivers in the NFL, you never want anyone to close in on 200 yards against you.
Making matters worse for the Packers is the fact that it's possible they could have contained Jefferson a bit more had they allowed Jaire Alexander, their best cornerback by a mile, hang with him all game.
After the game, Alexander said that he had pitched his coaches on letting him shadow Jefferson all game.
"Why I wasn't on him? That's not my call," Alexander said. "Anybody that watches me play, you know that's what I want."
—Lily Zhao (@LilySZhao) September 12, 2022
Meanwhile, Justin Jefferson was left wondering how exactly he had gotten so open, so often.
"I was thinking somebody was about to come up behind me," Jefferson said of his second touchdown. "I thought Jaire was running with me, but he wasn't there."
Jefferson credited the Vikings' offensive scheme for helping prevent Alexander from staying with him all game.
"We move so much," Jefferson said. "We have so many players, you can't really stick with one player."
Indeed, the Packers would have had to make some pretty drastic decisions to allow Alexander to shadow Jefferson all game, which was something head coach Matt LaFleur wasn't willing to do.
"If you just commit to playing man coverage the whole game, sure, you can [keep Alexander on Jefferson]," LaFleur told reporters. "But they do a nice job of putting him in different positions, whether it's in the slot, whether it's motioning.… It seemed like he was in motion quite a bit, just moving him all over the place, and you've got to give them credit. They put him in premier spots and attacked our coverage well."
It's less than ideal to force your defense to commit fully to stopping one player from having a field day, but after Jefferson's monster performance on Sunday, the Packers might want to head back to the drawing board to find a way to slow him down before they meet again in Green Bay in Week 17.