Justin Jefferson vs. Sauce Gardner is as good as it gets
There is no better one-on-one matchup in Week 13 than Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson against Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner.
Jefferson can't be stopped and nobody beats Gardner. Something has to give.
According to Pro Football Focus, Gardner is the best cover corner in the NFL. The New York Jets rookie has been targeted 53 times and only 23 of those passes have been caught, with only one going for a touchdown.
The man he's covered has beaten him for a gain of 20+ yards just twice this season. Stefon Diggs got him for a 42-yard gain in Week 9 and Tee Higgins took him for a 45-yard ride in Week 3. Beyond that, he's been a shutdown corner.
Here's how quarterbacks have done targeting Gardner game-by-game:
- Bears: 1 catch for 31 yards on 3 targets
- Patriots: 2 catches for 19 yards on 4 targets
- Bills: 1 catch for 45 yards on 3 targets
- Patriots: 2 catches for -4 yards on 3 targets
- Broncos: 4 catches for 16 yards on 10 targets
- Packers: 1 catch for 8 yards on 6 targets
- Dolphins: 3 catches for 26 yards on 5 targets
- Steelers: 2 catches for 9 yards on 7 targets
- Bengals: 2 catches for 51 yards on 4 targets
- Browns: 4 catches for 33 yards and a touchdown on 5 targets
- Ravens: 1 catch for 8 yards on 3 targets
The only touchdown he's allowed came in his second game as a pro when Amari Cooper scored from six yards out, and even that touchdown being charged to Gardner is questionable because it looked like Gardner turned Cooper over to the safety.
Gardner is 11 games into his career and he's yet to give up a touchdown where he was actually trying to cover the receiver and he's never allowed more than four catches in a game.
Jefferson is a different beast. The Eagles held him to 48 yards on six catches in Week 2 and the Lions held him to 14 yards in Week 3, but since then he's been dominant with the lone exception of the full team no-show against the Cowboys.
Take out the Dallas debacle and Jefferson's last seven games have totaled 60 catches on 82 targets for 953 yards and three touchdowns. On a per game average, that's 8.5 catches and 136 yards.
Get your popcorn ready because two giants go head-to-head at noon Sunday.
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Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.