SEATTLE – The play that produced Justin Jefferson’s game-winning touchdown at Lumen Field on Sunday wasn’t necessarily meant to go to him.
The Vikings lined up with Jefferson as one of three receivers on the left side of the formation, before motioning Jalen Nailor and Jordan Addison to the right side and leaving Jefferson alone.
Coach Kevin O’Connell had talked with quarterback Sam Darnold about how the ball could go to Addison or T.J. Hockenson on the front side of the play, if the Seahawks “wanted to shove coverage over” to Jefferson.
”That was kind of a first on a pretty standard concept with a little window dressing or sauce on it, to make things look the same,” O’Connell said Sunday in Seattle after the Vikings’ 27-24 victory. “Justin has an innate feel for open grass and to go find it and to be so decisive with it that the quarterback feels it as he climbs the pocket, and you need a guy that can make that throw on the move in the pocket.
“To place it where he did, what a moment.”
Jefferson “got such a clean, good release on the inside” of cornerback Riq Woolen, and drove his route toward the sideline, away from safety Julian Love (who’d turned his hips toward the middle of the field). Darnold saw the same thing, and put the ball toward the sideline without setting his feet while he evaded pressure.
“‘Jets’ is doing a great job of feeling that zone, and feeling the cloud [corner], to get a little bit of width to get away from the safety,” Darnold said. “I felt like I needed to give him a shot, put it on his back hip and let him do the rest.”
The play produced the game-winning 39-yard touchdown, delivered the Vikings’ first victory in Seattle since 2006 and kept them in line for home-field advantage in the NFC if they win their final two games. It also stood out as an example of the Vikings’ ability to find answers against the split-safety coverage teams use to take Jefferson away.