In their season opener against the Green Bay Packers, the Minnesota Vikings went off on offense to the tune of a 23-7 thrashing. Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson particularly tortured Green Bay’s defense, which had the weird idea to put everybody but Jaire Alexander, their best cornerback, wherever Jefferson went.
Jefferson’s response as one of the NFL’s best receivers was to catch nine passes on 11 targets for 184 yards and two touchdowns.
The Packers didn’t have a plan for Justin Jefferson, and it showed
The Eagles came into Monday night with a different plan against the Vikings: They were going to put their best cornerback (Darius Slay) on Jefferson as much as possible. Sounds like a radical strategy, but it worked to perfection.
Per Next Gen Stats, Jefferson caught one pass on five targets with Slay as the closest defender, and Slay intercepted two of those targets.
Darius Slay had more interceptions (2) than receptions allowed (1) as the nearest defender on 5 targets to Justin Jefferson.
The Vikings lost -11.9 EPA on the 5 targets, the most in any WR-CB matchup in a game over the last 6 seasons (min. 5 targets).#MINvsPHI | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/xApKRStxg5
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 20, 2022
Slay’s first pick came early in the second half. Quarterback Kirk Cousins may have expected Jefferson to work across Slay’s face, but that didn’t happen, and Slay had a very easy pick.
SLAY back makin’ BIG PLAYS!
📺: #MINvsPHI on ABC pic.twitter.com/KwL2B0OrZ6
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 20, 2022
Halfway through the fourth quarter, Cousins attempted a fadeaway jumper to Jefferson in the left corner of the end zone, and Slay took advantage of the fact that Cousins just couldn’t get enough on it.
.@bigplay24slay with his 2nd interception 🗣
📺: #MINvsPHI on ABC pic.twitter.com/KnV0evoizI
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 20, 2022
At this rate, other NFL teams might try putting their best cornerbacks on Minnesota’s best receiver. You just never know.