The New England Patriots defense will have its hands full Sunday when the Minnesota Vikings and their elite wide receiver duo step onto the field at Gillette Stadium.
Vikings wideouts Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs are among the top players at their position and each are enjoying a fantastic season. Thielen leads the NFL with 93 receptions and is one of nine receivers already over the 1,000-yard mark. Diggs ranks fifth in receptions with 79 and also has six touchdowns.
But it's not just this high level of production that makes these wide receivers so impressive, as Patriots safety Devin McCourty explained Thursday.
"They’re definitely up there," McCourty told reporters. "You can go down the list. There’s some pretty good duos out there, but you look at these guys, I mean, it’s like 90-something and 80-something catches, it’s one guy over 1,000 yards, the other guy’s on his way to 1,000 yards. And I think the hardest thing as you go down, Thielen, Diggs, [Kyle] Rudolph – these guys are catching like almost 70 percent of the balls thrown to them.
"So, very dynamic and explosive group, but I think the biggest thing is when the ball’s thrown, they catch the ball. So, that’s third-down conversions, red area targets – like all of those times it shows up. We’ve got to do a good job not only covering them, but we’ve got to get our hands on the ball or they’ll probably catch it."
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Thielen's catch percentage is 75.0 on 124 targets and Diggs is at 69.3 percent on 114 targets. There's no question Thielen and Diggs have great hands and can make tough catches in traffic, but it also helps to have a very accurate quarterback throwing the ball. Vikings QB Kirk Cousins enters Week 13 with a completion percentage of 71.1 percent, good for third-best in the league.
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He won his matchup against Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers last week in emphatic fashion. Cousins completed 29 of 38 pass attempts for 342 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Rodgers threw for 198 yards and one interception. The VIkings won 24-17.
Cousins will need to beat another legendary quarterback in Tom Brady on Sunday to help Minnesota keep pace with the Chicago Bears in the NFC North. The Patriots have beaten several of the league's top quarterbacks this season, including Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes, and they should heed McCourty's advice if they are going to add Cousins to that list.
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