Justin Jefferson of Minnesota sets a new NFL record for receiving yards in a player’s first three seasons, surpassing former Viking Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss; The Vikings (9-2) are back on track after losing 40-3 to the Dallas Cowboys last week.
Kirk Cousins threw three touchdowns, including the fourth-quarter game-winner to Adam Thielen as the Minnesota Vikings beat the New England Patriots 33–26 in the U.S. Thanksgiving final game.
With his 21st 100-yard rushing in just 44 career games, Jefferson set a new NFL record for receiving yards in a player’s first three seasons, surpassing former Viking Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss.
Patriot quarterback McJones scored 28 points out of 39 for a career-high 382 yards and two points, but the Patriots (6-5) ran out of steam in that stretch. Their fourth quarter included two throws with three strikeouts, a loss on down at the Minnesota 39-yard line, and a desperate last throw that went nowhere.
In a real back-and-forth struggle for most of the game, Jones found tight end Hunter Henry for a 37-yard wide-open touchdown pass to start the second half – briefly giving the Patriots a 23-16 lead – but Kene Nwangwu responded immediately with a terrific return TD on 97 yards for Minnesota to tie again.
Jones appeared to hit Henry and score a second late in the third quarter, but his twisty catch on the goal line, originally called an on-pitch touchdown, was called off and it was ruled that the ball bounced when he secured the catch, and New England had to be content with Nick Faulk’s fourth field goal.
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This proved to be decisive as the Patriots lost in the fourth quarter, closed out by the Vikings’ defense, while a score from Thielen with nine and a half minutes left gave them the lead for good.
He sees Minnesota (9-2) returning to winning ways after suffering only their second loss of the season – a 40-3 beating at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys – last week, and that gave their rookie head coach Kevin O’Connell a win over Bill Belichick, the same man who picked him to back up Tom Brady for the Patriots in 2008.
Thanksgiving Week action continues with the usual triple NFL action header on Sunday night starting at Cincinnati Bengals (6-4) travel to Tennessee Titans (7-3) in a repeat of last year’s divisional round playoff clash between a pair that the Bengals won 19-16 en route to the Super Bowl – watch live on Sky Sports NFL from 18:00.
After that we head to San Francisco 49ers (6-4) who are on a three-match winning streak in their home game against struggling New Orleans Saints (4-7) – This one at Levy Stadium starts at 21:25.
