While the Minnesota Vikings took a 23-10 victory over the Detroit Lions on Christmas Day, it's no secret to anyone who watched that Kevin O'Connell's offense, outside of Jordan Addison's 65-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter, had a pretty dreadful day overall.
Take away Addison's run, and Minnesota gained just 93 yards on the ground. And the passing game was even worse, as undrafted rookie Max Brosmer, who got his second start of the season with J.J. McCarthy sidelined with a hairline fracture in his throwing hand, completed just nine passes for 51 yards.
Thankfully, however, four of those completions went to Justin Jefferson, who ultimately ended his afternoon with 30 yards.
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson continues to prove why he is one of the league's best pass catchers.
As such, with 8,179 regular-season receiving yards for his career, the four-time Pro Bowler, who already owned the NFL records for the most through two seasons (3,016), three seasons (4,825), four seasons (5,899), and five seasons (7,432) has finally set the new NFL record for the most by a player in their first six seasons, breaking the mark previously owned by Randy Moss, who tallied 8,175 in his first six years with Minnesota from 1998 to 2003.
Most Receiving Yards Through First 6 NFL Seasons@JJettas2 👑 pic.twitter.com/2unNZMGKBg
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 26, 2025
"It definitely feels good," Jefferson told the media afterward. "It's always a dream to compete against the best to do ever do it, you know, a Hall of Famer, and especially one of the faces of this franchise. So, it's great, but the win is more important."
That's the exact kind of response one would expect from a team-first guy like Jefferson. While clearly elated to set this record, he was much more excited about the Vikes upping their winning streak to four. And he also didn't hide his excitement about the victory, officially eliminating the Lions from postseason contention.
While the record is obviously impressive, it should have broken far sooner, as Jefferson needed just 944 yards to break it coming into this season. And seeing as how the LSU alum's worst season was in 2023, when he missed seven games and still recorded 1,074 yards, that only goes to show just how bad things have been at the quarterback position this season.
Now, the goal for the Vikings in their Week 18 matchup with the Green Bay Packers should be getting Jefferson 53 more yards, as that's the number he needs to reach 1,000. If he can get there, he'd become just the third player in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards in each of his first six seasons, joining Moss and Mike Evans.