NFC North takeaways: Justin Jefferson shines; Lions' offense sputters

By Carmen Vitali
FOX Sports NFC North Writer

Can We Please Not Get Justin Jefferson Fatigue?

It didn't end up being the most convincing of wins on Sunday for the now 4-1 Minnesota Vikings, but lost in the drama of a near-comeback by the Chicago Bears was the performance of one Justin Jefferson.

I will continue to marvel at Jefferson's performances as long as they are warranted — and boy, are they warranted. In my game notes from Sunday I just simply wrote, "Justin Jefferson" at the top. Full stop. End of sentence.

That's because Jefferson did things like set a career-high in catches with 12, while racking up 154 yards in the process. With those aforementioned 12 receptions, he has also now passed Randy Moss for the franchise record for most receptions in a player's first three seasons with 236 while not even being halfway through his third campaign.

If you needed more context for how unprecedented Jefferson's performance was, his 10 catches (on 10 targets) in the first half were the most among all NFL players in the first two quarters this season and most receptions in a first half since the Chargers' Keenan Allen in Week 11 of 2020. And in another mind-blowing league-wide stat, Jefferson has now tied Moss and Lance Alworth for most games with over 150 yards receiving in a player's first three seasons with six.

Oh yeah, and Jefferson actually threw a pass, too. In the second quarter, quarterback Kirk Cousins lateraled the ball to Jefferson on the far-left sideline, where Jefferson then lateraled it back all the way across the field to the opposite sideline where running back Dalvin Cook was waiting for it. Cook took the ball for 23 yards and set his team up with first and goal at the nine-yard line. Wide receiver Jalen Reagor ended up with the one-yard touchdown catch three plays later to put Minnesota up 21-3, which was their biggest lead of the game.

"I love it," said Jefferson after the game. "It's a chance for me to show off my arm a little bit. I wish he would've scored but of course I like the completion, especially on third down."

Of course, Jefferson's 12 catches aren't possible without a quarterback who was absolutely slinging it — especially in the first half. Cousins completed his first 17 pass attempts, setting a new franchise record of his own in the process. By the time the first half was over, Cousins had completed 22 of 26 attempts for 217 yards and a touchdown.

"It felt like Kirk was out there with confidence," Jefferson said. "Us being 17 of 17 helps him out a lot to say that he can actually go out there and do it. I mean we were pretty much having a great game the whole first half against them. Kirk was dialing it up, throwing to the right reads, making the right throws. We just have to progress to the second half with that 17 of 17."

Speaking of that second half, the Bears did mount a 19-point comeback where they managed to pull ahead by one point with 9:26 left in the fourth quarter. And though the Vikings' offense had stalled up until that point, they played their cards exactly right following Chicago's go-ahead field goal.

Cousins engineered a 17-play, 75-yard scoring drive that took seven minutes off the clock. The Vikings converted five third downs on the drive. On a second-and-14, Jefferson caught a 10-yard pass to set up third and manageable and Cousins tacked on the two-point conversion after the touchdown on a pass to Jefferson to give the Vikings a full seven-point lead, which is how the score would stay.

"Third-down conversions are such a big part of why you win or why you lose," said Cousins following the game. "They get a big emphasis every week in your preparation. You spend basically a whole day on Thursday trying to lock that in. 

"Again, it goes back to so many pieces have to work. The design needs to be good. It's got to be well protected. Guys got to get open and separate versus their coverage and we've got to find it and throw it and you've got to have a mix of run and pass. You've got to stay in third and manageable. I think we had 10 third downs of five or less (yards). When you're in third and 11 all game, that's a different conversion than third and one. So, staying in third and manageable, being productive on first and second down to give you that fighting chance on third down really helps."

Jefferson concurred.

"That just shows you the execution we had throughout the whole drive," he said. "Us just dialing in even when we had second and 20 or whatever it was. Just buying into what K.O. is calling. He called a great, great last drive and it was just us going out there and making plays."

It helped the Vikings close out yet another one score game. They are 3-0 in such games after being 6-8 in one-score games last year, and with each down-to-the-wire win the Vikings are gaining more and more confidence as we get well into October.

Lions Fourth-Down Gambles Don't Pay Off

The Lions went into Foxborough touting the league's most productive offense, averaging 35 points per game through the first four weeks of the season. It was the defense that had kept Detroit from a better record until that point and they had a prime opportunity against third-string quarterback Bailey Zappe and a limited Patriots' offense.

They perhaps didn't quite account for how good New England's defense is, though.

Matthew Judon had two sacks in the game. He accounted for seven total pressures on his own too, according to PFF. Lions quarterback Jared Goff was pressured in some way shape or form 21 times, accounting for 41% of his dropbacks. He was blitzed on 38.5% of them.

His completion percent under pressure was just 21.4% and the Lions didn't score a single point on the day. Yes, the Patriots recorded a shutout of 29-0 at home and shoved the Lions deeper into the cellar of the NFC in the process.

Yet another weird wrinkle one might be tempted to blame comes on fourth down. Head coach Dan Campbell hasn't been shy about going for it in such situations. But the Lions went for it six times. They converted none of them.

In fact, one fourth down in particular proved costly when on fourth-and-nine, Goff was sacked by Judon while he simultaneously punched the ball out. Goff's fumble was scooped up by safety Kyle Dugger and taken right into the end zone for a defensive score, putting the Pats up 13-0 in the second quarter.

But strangely, the Lions were probably warranted in going for it every time. It was costly that they didn't extend drives but nothing beyond that in the way of field position. Other than the aforementioned fumble returned for a touchdown, this is where New England started their drives after Detroit went for it on fourth down instead of punting:

• DET 45
• NE 34
• NE 6
• NE 32
• NE 18

The Patriots' average field position to start their offensive drives was at their own 22. That's better than what you would get with a touchback.

So in this case, fourth downs should be treated as third downs, and if you're lumping both third and fourth down together, that's where the Lions failed the most. They were four of 18 for a conversion rate of just 22%.

"Our offense has been pretty steady, played pretty well," said Campbell after the game. "And this was a day we didn't do well. We really never got into true rhythm and we couldn't convert. So we couldn't stay on the field."

Simple as that.

Detroit now gets an early bye to try and figure things out before they head to Dallas to face another one of the league's top defenses in the Cowboys.

Packers Not Productive in Second Half

Green Bay was upset by the New York Giants in their home away from home at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England on Sunday. 

Giants head coach Brian Daboll outdueled Packers head coach Matt LaFleur with a slew of constant and creative adjustments that proved too much for Green Bay's defense. The Giants converted six of 11 third downs and were a perfect three for three in goal-to-go situations — they were three of four in the red zone overall. 

But they gashed the Packers on the big play, with running back Saquon Barkley recording two plays over 40 yards, including one direct snap he took for 40 yards to help set up a two-yard double-reverse touchdown.

Green Bay's offense got off to a hot start and would have been able to weather the aforementioned play, and the Giants in general, had they tacked on anything at all in the second half. The Packers have scored just 30 points total in the second half this season through five games. Against the Giants was the second time they have been held scoreless in the final two quarters of a game this year.

Last week against the Patriots, Green Bay scored 20 points in the second half, making it seem as though perhaps they had figured out their lack of late-game production. It did come against a third-string rookie quarterback — which proved to be an important caveat now that Green Bay has regressed again.

They'll have a chance to rebound against the New York Jets at home this coming weekend, though the Jets are coming off a 40-17 drubbing of the Miami Dolphins. I have a feeling we'll find out very quickly which Week 5 performance between the Jets and the Packers was the fluke this Sunday.

Carmen Vitali covers the NFC North for FOX Sports. Carmen had previous stops with The Draft Network and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, including 2020, which added the title of Super Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You can follow Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.