Justin Jefferson Breaks Sammy White's Vikings Single Game Receiving Yardage Record

White's record for receiving yards in a regular season game stood for 46 years until Jefferson broke it.

You knew it was going to happen at some point.

Justin Jefferson has come close to breaking Sammy White's Vikings single game receiving yardage record before. White had 210 yards all the way back in 1976, and Jefferson — who came into Sunday's game against the Lions with six career games of at least 160 receiving yards — finally broke though with 223 on 11 catches in Minnesota's loss in Detroit.

And he should've had more. On a 39-yard reception in the fourth quarter, the play was blown dead when the officials ruled that Jefferson stepped out of bounds. Replay appeared to show that he stayed in bounds the entire time. Had the referees let it play out, it would've been a 71-yard touchdown and Jefferson would've had 255 yards and a score.

Even though Jefferson got hosed on that play, it was enough of a gain to break White's 46-year-old record. Jefferson was dominant throughout the game but came on strong late, with chunk gains of 34, 47, and 39 yards on his final three receptions. The Lions had no answers for No. 18.

If you include playoffs, the most receiving yards a Vikings player has ever had in a game remains Anthony Carter's 227 in the 1987 divisional round. But Jefferson is the new record holder in a regular season game, and something tells me this won't be the last 200-yard outing of the 23-year-old superstar's career.

There really aren't any good words to properly describe what Jefferson continues to do in the NFL. He's been an unstoppable force ever since his first career start back in Week 3 of the 2020 season. Jefferson had 1,400 yards as a rookie, exceeded 1,600 in his second season, and is now up to an even 1,500 yards in just 13 games this year. If he averages 125 yards over the final four games of the season, he'll become the first 2,000-yard receiver in league history.

Jefferson was held to a career low 14 yards when the Vikings and Lions met in Week 3. He talked this week about wanting to bounce back and not let that happen again, and boy was he successful. Even while again facing significant defensive attention, he absolutely shredded the Lions all game long.

Jefferson's entire elite skill set — route-running, tracking the ball, hands, yards after the catch — was on display on Sunday, but the most notable part of his performance was how he shined against press coverage.

With the Dolphins' Tyreek Hill set to play on Sunday night, Jefferson has taken a 121-yard lead in the NFL receiving race. That'll be a fun back-and-forth subplot to follow over the final four weeks.

Jefferson will look to keep rolling when the Colts come to Minneapolis on Saturday. After failing to clinch the division in Detroit, the Vikings will have a chance to do so in their home stadium this weekend.

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