Steelers primary goal vs Vikings must be to stop WR Justin Jefferson

The Pittsburgh Steelers are trying to adance to their seventh win of the season, and phenomenal Vikings wide receiver, Justin Jefferson, could make this challenging.

Justin Jefferson is one of the fastest-rising superstars in the NFL. After a remarkable rookie season in which he recorded 1,400 yards and 7 touchdowns in 16 games, the former first-round pick is on a record pace early in his professional career with the Minnesota Vikings.

The electrifying 22-year-old has already amassed 78 receptions, 1,209 yards, and 7 touchdowns with still 5 games left to go this season, and he has given even the most talented cornerbacks fits this year.

As a result, the offense hasn’t been the issue for Minnesota as the Vikings are currently 11th in the NFL in scoring and 6th in offensive yards, according to Team Rankings. Over the past five games, they have been even better — averaging 29.0 points per contest.

Considering that the Pittsburgh Steelers only average 20.3 points per game on the season, something has got to give this week. Mike Tomlin’s team played with a fiery passion last week, and his players know their 2021 season dangles by a thread. Likewise, Minnesota could essentially be eliminated from contention in the NFC Wild Card hunt with a loss at him this week.

Stopping Jefferson is the key to a Steelers victory

Pittsburgh is very fortunate that Dalvin Cook is still banged up with a shoulder injury and that two-time Pro Bowl receiver Adam Thielen isn’t going to be suiting up for this contest. However, the Steelers can’t afford to take this team lightly.

Minnesota’s greatest strength could feed right into the hands of one of Pittsburgh’s biggest weaknesses in Week 14. The entire Steelers secondary has struggled at times this season, and it doesn’t look like Joe Haden is going to be available to cover Justin Jefferson in this all-important matchup.

Last week, Keith Butler was forced to turn to Ahkello Witherspoon after James Pierre struggled mightily against the Bengals in Week 12. Though Witherspoon impressed, Lamar Jackson was under constant duress last week and he will get a much more difficult matchup this time around.

We saw in recent weeks how good receivers like Ja’Marr Chase and Keenan Allen were able to shred Pittsburgh’s shaky secondary, and facing a star receiver like Jefferson will be no easy matchup.

If Pittsburgh doesn’t throw extra attention in his direction, it could be a very long night. Left on an island, it doesn’t matter who is covering Jefferson. He’s going to get the best of them.

There are many factors that will go into Thursday night’s performance against the Vikings, but the Steelers primary goal defensively needs to be to shut down Kirk Cousins’ favorite target. If Jefferson doesn’t start catching fire, I feel confident that Pittsburgh can pull this game off.