The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Buffalo Bills 33-30 in OT on Sunday in the game of the year. But the early story from that game was Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson who was a monster (10 catches, 193 yards and a TD) and faked out the broadcast booth during his touchdown celebration. Jefferson was doing the “Griddy” when he grabbed at his hamstring, appearing to have hurt it, but he was just joking.
Justin Jefferson just hit the fake hamstring injury Griddy
pic.twitter.com/hqpNmDnUgh— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) November 13, 2022
Jefferson, an LSU alumnus, has deep ties to the “Griddy.”
The dance was originally invented by Louisiana’s Allen Davis, a friend of former LSU and current Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who wanted to create his own dance after he was inspired by Silento’s Nae Nae back in 2015.
Davis created the dance and a friend posted it on Snapchat, and it went viral.
Once Chase found himself at LSU, he introduced the dance to teammate Justin Jefferson, and the pair introduced the dance to the rest of LSU’s locker room. Jefferson broke out the dance after scoring his first touchdown his sophomore season against Texas.
Jefferson is one of the top wideouts in the league. He had a career high in receiving yards on Sunday and is top five among all wide receivers in DYAR and DVOA.
Justin. Jefferson. OH MY GOODNESS. pic.twitter.com/R7JqjqTcre
— The Jordy Culotta Show (@CulottaShow) November 13, 2022
He has 69 catches for 1,060 yards and four touchdowns through nine games. That’s 15.3 yards per reception. He’s on pace for 129 catches, 2,002 yards and seven touchdowns, which would smash last year’s All-Pro season. This is only year three for Jefferson. Imagine if he had an elite quarterback?
No matter, the Vikings are 8-1 atop the NFC North and looking for a one seed in the playoffs. Their record indicates they are contenders, and they just defeated the experts’ Super Bowl winner in the Bills.
With Jefferson and running back Dalvin Cook (14 carries, 119 yards, and a TD) they have the dynamic playmakers you need on offense. Can the defense hold up and can quarterback Kirk Cousins limit turnovers and make big time throws under pressure?
The Vikings are 16th in total DVOA on offense. Eighth in run DVOA and 17th in pass DVOA. On defense they are 19th overall, 19th against the run and 16th against the pass. Mediocre numbers. They’ll need to be opportunistic as they’ve been through the first nine games this season.
Former NFL wide receiver and current Fox Sports analyst Greg Jennings isn’t sold on Cousins and believes he will be the limiting factor in the team’s ability to contend.
“He’s very accurate, [but] he has no special talent,” Jennings said. “He gets it done all the time in regular-season games, daytime games. Prime-time games, playoffs, that’s where I need to see it. I got to see it. I’m not convinced. When you compete, the more of a competitor you are, it’s like, ‘I got to get this. I want to shine the brightest. I want to be who and what everybody talks about.’ Kirk, it’s almost like ‘I just don’t want to mess it up.’ And it shows, and he doesn’t show up.”
Hard to argue with Jennings. With Cook and Jefferson this should be one of the top offenses in the entire league, and they’re middle of the pack.
Their record is outstanding and suggests they are contenders. But Cousins will determine just how far they can really go.
