Vikings' Justin Jefferson Sends Strong Message to NFL
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The Minnesota Vikings were one of the best teams in the NFL last season. They finished the season with a 14-3 record, but were forced to play a road game in the Wild Card round of the playoffs despite having the second best record in the NFC.
While they had a chance to win the No. 1 seed in the final game of the regular season against the Detroit Lions, being forced to play a road game was a tough pill to swallow.
Justin Jefferson has now spoken out about that situation and has sent a strong message to the NFL about potentially changing how playoff seeding occurs.
Justin Jefferson #18 of the Minnesota Vikings gestures in the second half of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on December 16, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Justin Jefferson #18 of the Minnesota Vikings gestures in the second half of the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium on December 16, 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Photo byIn an interview with Yahoo Sports, Jefferson made his thoughts perfectly clear.
Read more: Cam Newton Delivers Strong Words About Detroit Lions
He did acknowledge that his team had a chance to earn home field advantage. However, he thinks that the NFL should take a look at how last season played out and consider changes to their current playoff format.
"With the season that we had last year, to go and play away, it definitely was a little different. It definitely needs to go into consideration and something that we need to figure out because having 14 wins... normally doesn't go to play away in the playoffs," Jefferson said.
"We definitely had the opportunity to play home field with the last game in Detroit, but even losing that, we still felt like we should've had home-field advantage. But even not having home-field advantage is never an excuse. It's something we had to deal with and we wish we would've had home field but it is what it is."
Jefferson makes some good points. Entering the playoffs last season, the Vikings had a 14-3 record while the Los Angeles Rams were 10-7. Minnesota should have had home field advantage.
Read more: Nick Saban's Coaching Future Receives Major NFL Update
Unfortunately for the Vikings, the rules did not go in their favor and they lost the Wild Card game by a final score of 27-9.
Heading into the 2025 NFL season, Minnesota has gone through change. J.J. McCarthy is now the team's starting quarterback, replacing Sam Darnold. There are a lot of questions about whether or not the second-year quarterback can keep the Vikings as a top contender in the NFC.
Thankfully, Jefferson is still locked in with Minnesota and he will be a huge part of deciding what kind of season the Vikings end up having.
For more Minnesota Vikings and NFL news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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