Pundits and fans alike are already calling it the Catch of the Year. Everyone was talking about it the Monday afterward from players to coaches to sports media. How could a man even catch a ball like that?
If you were hiding under a rock you might not know about it but it was NFL wunderkind, Justin Jefferson, making an extraordinary catch on Buffalo Bills’ cornerback Cam Lewis. It would help the Vikings score a touchdown to go ahead in a game they would eventually win in overtime 33-30.
But let’s get back to that catch. The ball was thrown by Kirk Cousins and appeared to be on its way to being intercepted as Lewis had better positioning on the ball to make a catch. Instead, Jefferson leapt up and stole the ball out of Lewis’s hands with one hand and somehow maintained control over it the entire way down to the ground. Everyone was stunned; the crowd, the players, the coaches. Oh, and by the way, it was fourth and 19!
The catch was so incredible that it has made the Pro Football Hall of Fame already where it will be referred to as “an all-time catch to remember.” The funny part is although he made the astonishing grab, Jefferson himself can’t even explain how it happened.
“I don’t know how to even answer that question,” Jefferson would say when asked how he made the catch, “God, honestly.”
A candidate for NFL MVP this season, Jefferson already has 1093 yards and four touchdowns on the year while averaging 109.3 yards receiving per game. Aside from the yards, his impact is felt every game as he drives defenses away from other offensive weapons the Vikings have.
Minnesota is 8-2 on the year, second-best in the NFC, and Jefferson leads the conference in receiving yards and targets.
