Justin Jefferson blaming refs will infuriate Lions fans after impressive SNF win

The Minnesota Vikings fell to the Detroit Lions on Sunday night, which means they will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card round rather than receive a first-round bye as the conference's No. 1 overall seed. That title goes to the Lions, which secured their 15th win of the season at home.

The Lions defense was particularly impressive against the Vikings high-powered offense. Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn added to his resume at the perfect time, as he'll be contacted for interviews starting Monday. Darnold was just 18-for-41 with 166 yards through the air, while Justin Jefferson had three catches for 54 yards. Four Jahmyr Gibbs rushing touchdowns put the game out of reach, and Minnesota never could recover offensively.

Frankly, the Lions needed this victory more than Minnesota. Detroit has dealt with a litany of injuries all season long, and with a win on Sunday, will receive a week off as their reward. Detroit cornerback Amik Robertson acknowledged as much.

"We happy about this. This is what we needed. But it's that 24-hour rule. We know what our goal is; we're going to get rest," Robertson said. "We was able to come up short last year, so we know what our goal is: Enjoy this victory and get back to the lab, because we understand what we want to do."

Justin Jefferson made excuses for Vikings loss to the Lions

While Robertson and the Lions were grateful, Jefferson and the Vikings were salty over what he perceived as missed calls in Detroit's favor.

“They held us a lot, a lot of calls that were left out there but […] that’s not something we’re gonna put the blame on," Jefferson said, per the 33rd team.

Jefferson insinuated that the Lions defensive backs were a little too physical. While such plays can be called as holding, it's often left up to interpretation and not something a player like Jefferson should count on. Heck, he's the best wide receiver in football. Holds or not, Jefferson ought to be able to make a play on the football, and Robertson flat-out shut him down in primetime.

Next Gen stats put the Lions defensive display in perspective. Sam Darnold had the third-worst passer rating in the red zone of any QB with 10-plus attempts. As for Robertson, he shadowed Jefferson on 35 of his 43 routes, holding him to just three catches on seven targets.

The Lions are beleaguered, but should be getting healthy shortly. With another week of rest under their belts, there's no telling what this team is capable of.