Justin Jefferson Becomes First Vikings WR Ever to Win Player of the Month Twice
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Cris Carter won it once. Jake Reed won it once. Randy Moss, somehow, never won it while he was in Minnesota.
In just his third season, Justin Jefferson has already become the first wide receiver in Vikings history to win NFC Offensive Player of the Month twice in his career. He was honored on Thursday for November, one year after winning the award for his performance in November 2021.
Player of the month awards have only been around since 1986. But over those 36 years, only two other Vikings offensive players — Daunte Culpepper and Adrian Peterson — have won it twice. No one has ever done it three times, which Jefferson seems likely to change. With Jefferson the last two years, Dalvin Cook in 2020, and Kirk Cousins in 2019, the Vikings have had a player win the award once in each of the last four seasons.
Historically, the OPOM is typically a quarterback and running back award. Cooper Kupp (twice last season) and Calvin Johnson are the only NFC receivers other than Jefferson to ever win it multiple times.
Jefferson was plenty deserving for his efforts in November. He caught 29 passes for 480 yards across four games, and that includes a 33-yard output against the Cowboys. He went for 115 yards in Washington, 193 yards in Buffalo, and 139 yards against the Patriots, scoring a touchdown in each of those one-score victories. Jefferson's game against the Bills was one of the single greatest wide receiver performances ever, judging by production, stakes, and degree of difficulty. Unsurprisingly, he was named the NFC's offensive player of the week after that game.
"I think he’s just a special player, and I think we’re all privileged to kind of be a part of this thing," offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. "I mean just us as fans, just being close to it. Seeing a great player doing things that, this league’s been around a long time and people haven’t done before. Just as a football fan, it’s cool to kind of be a part of it and watch him as he progresses throughout his career."
Jefferson's 490 yards from scrimmage in November were over 100 more than the next closest NFC player. He was utterly dominant and was only held in check against the Cowboys because Cousins never had time to throw the ball in that blowout loss.
With 480 receiving yards, Jefferson came 30 shy of Moss's franchise record for a single month. That happened in November 2000, but Moss did it across five games. He lost the NFC OPOM award that month to his teammate, Vikings RB Robert Smith, who racked up over 800 yards from scrimmage.
In November 2021, Jefferson had 464 yards and three touchdowns across four games — and then followed that up with 182 yards to kick off December.
What does he have in store for December 2022?
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