The start to the Vikings season has been nothing shy of a disappointment. The 0-3 start is the worst start in the Mike Zimmer era and the team has been missing nearly half of its starters on the defensive side of the ball.
It’s hard to find silver linings when the season is already in jeopardy just three weeks through the regular season. However, the Vikings do have a bright spot, as it looks like they found a star player with their first draft pick from 2020.
Justin Jefferson had his breakout game against the Titans, catching seven passes for 175 yards and his first career touchdown at the NFL level. His strong performance on Sunday led to him being the highest rated player across the league by PFF with a 93.8 rating.
The Vikings offense struggled to get things going the prior week in Indianapolis only putting up 11 points. Jefferson’s strong performance, along with Dalvin Cook’s career day, led to 30 points scored for the offense. Usually in the Zimmer era 30 points would be enough to win most of its games, but the defense played subpar for the third straight week.
That same defensive unit isn’t going to be excited when they learn about the player that was tied with Jefferson by PFF for the best performance of Week 3. Andrew Siciliano also tweeted out that former Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes also had a rating of 93.8. Rhodes had two interceptions for the Colts, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
The Vikings sure could use some veteran play in the cornerback room, but it sounds as if Cameron Dantzler is ready to return for Week 4 if the Vikings are able to play. He has posted a couple stories on his Instagram saying he is coming back this week.
It was reported yesterday that the team closed the facility due to three players and five personnel testing positive for COVID-19 within the Titans organization.
If they are cleared to play the Vikings will travel to Houston to take on the Texans. Both teams had strong playoff hopes before the season started, but they are both sitting at 0-3 heading into this Sunday.
It’s never easy to find positives after such a poor start to the season, but the Vikings have an up and coming star at the receiver position in Jefferson.