Following his team's first offensive drive of Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Rams, it seemed like Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson was on his way to another spectacular performance.
Jefferson caught all six of his targets in the first half of the matchup and racked up 74 receiving yards with those catches. Unfortunately, the All-Pro receiver was slowed down in the second half (two catches for 41 yards), and the Vikings wound up leaving the field inside SoFi Stadium with their second loss in less than a week.
There are several people who deserve most of the blame for Minnesota's loss (including the officiating crew), and after the game, Jefferson was given the opportunity to share his thoughts about who should be held accountable for Thursday's result.
Following the loss, the Vikings No. 1 receiver took some time to answer a few questions from reporters. At one point, Jefferson shared why he thinks Minnesota currently finds itself on a two-game skid.
"Honestly, I feel like these last two losses have just been self-inflicted. All of the penalties that we're having, the non-execution on certain plays that we need, it's definitely something that hurts us in the long run."
He's certainly not wrong. Some could argue that Thursday's contest felt like the Vikings beat themselves more than the Rams did.
Several times throughout the game, after it seemed like Minnesota had come up with a stop on defense, they were flagged for a penalty, and Los Angeles was rewarded with a new set of downs. In fact, the Rams earned a total of five first downs from Vikings penalties on Thursday, and two of these first downs were given to Los Angeles during an offensive drive that resulted in a touchdown.
In addition, Jefferson wasn't even targeted in the fourth quarter when Minnesota was trailing the Rams, and that is something that absolutely cannot happen for the Vikings moving forward.
If the Vikings want to get things back on track when they return in Week 9, they can start by throwing the ball to the best receiver in the NFL at the end of games when he's needed the most.
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