Vikings’ Justin Jefferson credits Kevin O’Connell’s offense for surprising wide-open looks vs. Packers

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Count Justin Jefferson among those who are a fan of new Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell.

Jefferson had arguably the best game of his career in the Vikings’ 2022 season opener against the Packers. The third-year receiver recorded a career-high 184 receiving yards on nine catches and scored twice in Minnesota’s 23-7 win over its divisional rival.

And he believes that his success against a stout-looking Packers defense was directly related to O’Connell’s offensive system.

Jefferson was effusive in his praise of the Vikings’ new-look offense during his postgame news conference on Sunday. In particular, he was focused on the pre-snap movement baked into O’Connell’s scheme.

“I definitely like the motioning, and just seeing the whole field,” Jefferson said. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to do it a lot more.”

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It’s not a surprise that O’Connell’s offense contains within it plenty of pre-snap motion. He comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree, and the Rams head coach popularized that concept as a means to help offensive players read defenses before the snap.

As Jefferson pointed out, there is also a benefit in creating mismatches when an offense builds in pre-snap movement.

That’s the thing that I like about our offense. We move so much. We have so many players on our offense that you can’t really stick with one player.

Still, the Vikings receiver acknowledged that he was a bit surprised that the Packers didn’t double-team him or have top Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander on him every snap. However, as the veteran corner explained, the matchups the Packers threw Jefferson’s way were not his call.

“The game plan was to not allow 18 to beat us,” Alexander said, via Ryan Wood of Packers News. “Why I wasn’t on him, that’s not my call. Anybody watch me play, you know that’s what I want.”

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The decision not to have Alexander shadow Jefferson was a strange one. Sure, Jefferson’s pre-snap is part of what freed him from being covered by Alexander, but the Packers could have had him follow the talented receiver.

Instead, they never adjusted, sticking to the plan with which they entered the game. That meant Alexander wasn’t always on Jefferson, which was far from his preferred choice, as he detailed to ESPN.

All week, [he was] asking for that matchup. But it ain’t about me. It’s about the team. It ain’t about me. If it was my way, you know what I would be doing.

The Packers will have to wait until Week 17 to get a second chance at slowing Jefferson down. Coach Matt LaFleur and defensive coordinator Joe Barry will surely look for a way to play better coverage against the talented receiver.

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Stopping Jefferson won’t be easy. There’s a reason that Aaron Rodgers, the two-time reigning MVP, called him the “best player in the game today” after Minnesota’s win (though it’s unclear whether Rodgers meant league-wide or just for Sunday’s contest).

Still, LaFleur and Barry need to put tougher coverage on Jefferson. They can’t allow him to get so wide open that he couldn’t believe nobody was going to tackle him from behind.

“When I caught the ball, I was definitely looking for someone to be there,” Jefferson said of his second touchdown of the day. “I was thinking somebody was about to come from behind and tackle me. I thought Jaire had run with me. But he wasn’t there.

“It kind of shook me up a little bit, but I’m glad I got into the end zone.”

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