Jefferson wants to catch Bengals star Ja’Marr Chase

The former LSU teammates are currently competing for the NFL’s lead in receiving yards.

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Vikings host the Chicago Bears on Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium

By Dane Mizutani, Pioneer Press – December 13, 2024

There’s absolutely a friendly competition going on between Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson and Cincinnati Bengals star receiver Ja’Marr Chase at the moment.

The former college teammates are currently competing for the NFL’s lead in receiving yards, and while Chase is comfortably ahead with 1,319 yards to his name, Jefferson isn’t too far behind with 1,170 yards and he has about a month to catch him.

“There’s four games left,” Jefferson said with a smile. “There’s still time for me to get in that lead.”

After dominating opposing defense during their time together at LSU, and winning a national championship in the process, Jefferson was selected by the Vikings in the 2020 NFL Draft, while Chase was selected by the Bengals in the 2021 NFL Draft.

They have been jockeying for position against each other ever since.

What does Jefferson think about he and Chase are balling out at the next level?

“It’s something special,” Jefferson said. “It’s crazy to see the amount of talent we had on that squad.”

Though the Vikings racked up 452 yards of total offense in the 30-27 overtime win, Jefferson finished with 2 catches for 27 yards, which came as a result of the Bears doing everything in their power to take him out of the game.

As frustrated as Jefferson was in the immediate aftermath, he understood that his lack of production made life easier on everybody else around him. Naturally, when the Vikings host the Bears on Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium, Jefferson is expecting to see a similar strategy deployed in trying to stop him.

“That’s what most people do,” Jefferson said. “I’m still going to go out there and try to make those big plays and get the ball rolling.”

As the Vikings prepare to host the Bears this time around, however, Jefferson is expecting to put together a better stat line. Why? He noted that the game plan that the Vikings have going into this matchup is different than the game plan the had in the last matchup.

“I’m excited for it,” Jefferson said. “It’s going to be a different vibe.”

A big game from Jefferson in primetime would go a long way toward him catching Chase for the NFL’s lead in receiving yards. It could also help that Jefferson has slightly better matchups than Chase coming up in terms of pass defenses.

The remaining schedule for the Vikings includes the Bears (182.7 passing yards allowed per game), the Seattle Seahawks (249.0 passing yards allowed per game), the Green Bay Packers (231.6 passing yards allowed per game), and the Detroit Lions (243.8 passing yards allowed per game).

The remaining schedule for the Bengals includes the Tennessee Titans (182.8 passing yards allowed per game), Cleveland Browns (224.5), Denver Broncos (209.0), and Pittsburgh Steelers (206.0).

May the best man win.

“It always will be a competition between us,” Jefferson said. “We both want to be the best.”