The Minnesota Vikings had the Detroit Lions on the ropes in the fourth quarter of today’s Christmas Day game. With two minutes left in the game, Max Brosmer hit Justin Jefferson on the 3rd down, and the Vikings receiver made a phenomenal juggling catch. He also made history.

Justin Jefferson is now up to 8,379 career receiving yards, surpassing Hall of Famer Randy Moss for the most through a player’s first six seasons in the league’s history.

Coming into tonight, Jefferson was sitting at just 917 yards, having not yet cracked the 1,000-yard mark. He had 72 catches and just two touchdowns. By his standards, it’s been a quiet year. Probably the quietest of his career. And yet, here he was again, finding a way to leave his mark.

Jefferson finished the night with four catches for 30 yards on five targets. The theme all season has been a lack of volume, as he has yet to be peppered with more than 12 targets in any single game. But the talent hasn’t gone anywhere. This is still the same receiver who went for 1,809 yards in 2022 and walked away with Offensive Player of the Year.

He hasn’t quite touched those heights since, but that doesn’t mean he’s fallen off. The Vikings’ quarterback situation has mattered here. When J.J. McCarthy settles into this offense and things stabilize, the production will follow for both of them.

Minnesota already showed what it thinks of Justin Jefferson last year, locking him up with a four-year, $140 million extension that included $110 million guaranteed. Tonight reinforced the idea that it wasn’t a mistake.

The payoff may come a little later, when the offense finds more consistency. For now, though, the defense needs to step up, and tonight, they did.

Vikings’ defense stepped up vs the Lions

Jordan Addison finally broke the game open late, taking an end-around and racing 65 yards to the house with 3:43 left to give the Vikings a 20–10 cushion. That was really the only explosive play Minnesota generated all night. The offense finished with just 161 total yards, including a staggering three through the air. With that production, the defense had to show up.

The first crack in Detroit’s night came early. With 3:42 left in the first quarter, Jared Goff mishandled a snap, and Andrew Van Ginkel was right there to fall on it at the Lions’ 16-yard line. A gift, and the Vikings didn’t hesitate to accept it.

The second takeaway was pure effort. Eric Wilson and Blake Cashman swarmed Jahmyr Gibbs, stopping him for a one-yard gain, and Wilson ripped the ball loose at the end of the play. Byron Murphy Jr. recovered it near midfield.

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Murphy wasn’t done. Minnesota’s third takeaway came on a sharp interception when Murphy undercut a desperation throw from Goff intended for Isaac TeSlaa on third-and-16. He secured it cleanly at the Vikings’ 38 and went down by contact, ending yet another Lions possession.

In all, Minnesota forced six turnovers and turned them into 16 points. Just as important, they played a clean game themselves, never giving the ball away. That was more than enough to secure a fourth straight win, moving the Vikings to 8–8 on the season, and officially knocking the Lions out of playoff contention.