MINNEAPOLIS — So many elite receivers who have worn Vikings Purple.
Including on the same turf at the same time, but never had two Minnesota receivers posted 130 or more receiving yards and two or more touchdowns in one game.
Enter Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison — and the eyes, mobility and arm of Sam Darnold.
Jefferson finished with seven catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns on seven targets.
Addison led the Vikings with eight catches for 133 yards and three touchdowns — his first career trifecta.
"I was shocked to hear that we haven't had two [130]-yard receivers with two touchdowns each in our history," Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell said. "Thinking back, we've had some great combinations in our league's history that have worn this uniform. So pretty spectacular by those two guys, and it's what I believe we're capable of as an offense."
It marked the seventh instance all-time of two teammates posting at least 130 and two apiece and fifth during the Super Bowl era. Coincidently, Atlanta has allowed three of those instances (1991 against Washington's Gary Clark and Art Monk and 2021 against Tampa Bay's Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin).
"We always say that we're the best duo in the league, and today we had the opportunity to show the world that we're the best duo. You know, him getting, what, eight [catches] and me getting seven? That's the type of targets that we want, you know, but we understand that we're not going to be able to get that every single game," Jefferson said. "So just being able to put that on film today and being able to have a dominant performance with two receivers on the same team, the sky's the limit, for sure."
Addison echoed Jefferson: "This is what we came here to do, and we're doing it."
The dynamic duo was pivotal on clutch plays and explosive multiple times, as Darnold threw for career highs in passing yards (347), touchdowns (five) and passer rating (157.9 — just shy somehow of the NFL-maximum 158.3). Darnold is the first Vikings QB to throw five scores in a game since Daunte Culpepper in 2004.
"We saw it in camp. We knew what he was about once we got him on our team," Addison said of Darnold. "He could throw any pass. So, he just put it on display for everybody else."
Addison began the spree with a 49-yard touchdown catch on which he made a nice adjustment on the football. It started the historic day and tied the game at 7 with 0:37 remaining in the first quarter.
He became the first Vikings receiver to catch three scores in one game since Stefon Diggs against Philadelphia in 2019 and helped Minnesota score 40-plus points for the first time in a game since toppling the Lions 42-30 in 2019.
"J.A. is playing a very high level of football right now," Darnold said. "For him to just, early on in the season, just keeping his head down and continuing to work, I think that was the biggest thing for him. And obviously, if teams want to try to push a little bit of coverage over to Jets (Jefferson), we've got another guy able to make a play."
Jefferson put the Vikings up 14-7 with a 12-yard catch on a post route with 2:01 remaining in the first half and up 21-13 on a 52-yard strike with 3:25 to go in the third quarter.
Three plays before, a 21-yard reception put Jefferson past 7,000 career receiving yards as he became the youngest in NFL history (25 years, 175 days) to reach that milestone.
"It's wild, man," Jefferson said. "To be able to play this position at the very highest level and to do what I'm doing is a blessing. It's honestly a blessing.
"But there's always room for improvement for me. You know, there's always things that I need to work on, things that I need to fix, and things to you know better myself when I'm out there on the field," he added in a Jefferson fashion. "So 7,000 is definitely great. But you know, there's way more things that I want to accomplish then just getting those yards."
The long touchdown was particularly incredible beginning with Darnold's ability to escape a well-designed pressure from the Rams.
"Sam Darnold just continues to play at a massively high level that is really fun to watch," O'Connell said.
Darnold credited Falcons Head Coach Raheem Morris for designing the blitz by safety Justin Simmons.
"They brought a really good pressure that got home, and I was able to kind of make Justin miss a little bit," Darnold explained.
He moved to his right and could have tucked and run, but Jefferson was almost as open as a punt returner inside the 10-yard line. Darnold showed his arm strength, flicking the ball on the move from midfield, and Jefferson backpedaled into the end zone.
Darnold acknowledged Jefferson's arm go up to indicate availability, which can sometimes be a pitfall if the receiver doesn't know another defender is sneaking up, but this time, there was nothing but space.
"I heard on the sideline that if I would have had time [to stay in the pocket and not scramble], he absolutely cooked the dude on the route that was called for him," Darnold said. "And for him to be able to score on a play that he would have scored on if I had time anyways, that was awesome to see."
