Getty Marvin Jones celebrates a touchdown catch.
Marvin Jones had one of the great games in Detroit Lions history on Sunday with a 4 touchdown explosion against the Minnesota Vikings, and he is being recognized for his hard work on the field as one of the true fantasy football standouts of the week.
Jones dominated the Vikings and as a result, was identified as the top fantasy player at wideout for Week 7 by Sports Illustrated. Here’s a look at what Frankie Taddeo wrote about him:
“To put Jones’s performance on Sunday in perspective, his 43.3 PPR fantasy points against the Vikings fell just slightly under his first five games combined (57.8). Jones brought in 10 of his 13 targets for 93 yards and four touchdowns in the breakout game his fantasy owners have been missing in 2019. Owners will be looking for another solid performance in Week 8 in a plus-matchup at home against a weak Giants secondary.”
The Lions might only be set to warm up in terms of what they can do, and Jones might now get cooking himself. It points to an important resurgence for the Lions and for fantasy owners as well.
History Maker
With the four touchdowns, Jones matched a number that Calvin Johnson put up in terms of sheer production, but he also got loose on the Vikings, a good team who had never seen the kind of production that one wideout put up against them in over 20 years.
Minnesota is a proud team with a strong defensive history, so obviously, it had been some time since such an output had been had against them in an NFL game. Jones joins the incomparable Jerry Rice as players to have gone off against the Vikings for three scores in the first half of a football game. That happened in 1995 while Rice was playing for the San Francisco 49ers and was battling the Vikings.
Jones will never admit it, but it’s pretty good company to keep any time a player can join Rice in a statistical conversation. Obviously, turning three scores in against a strong Vikings defense is something that is nice to see on the field.
Seeing a player go off for three scores in one half is quite an accomplishment, and as this history shows, it’s not something which is likely to happen again for some time in a game, much less a game against Minnesota, a stronger defensive team.
Not only did Jones make some team and personal history, he helped Matthew Stafford make some as well. With the touchdown explosion, Jones and Stafford have combined for 22 scores in their time together, which is Stafford’s third highest total to any one player in his career as the Lions PR team pointed out after the catches were made. It’s clear the duo like competing with one another and as they stick together, these numbers might only go up in time.
Jones, though, wasn’t impressed and said he will remember the stat later.
“I’ll think about that when I’m old,” he joked with the media afterward.
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What’s Next? Start Him
The Lions get set to tangle with the New York Giants this week, and Jones could once again be expected to go off. New York’s defensive backfield hasn’t played great this season giving up 257 yards per game, and the Lions seem to be hitting their passing stride. All those facts add up to prove that Jones might be a great play once again. Finding the hot hand is key in fantasy football, and Jones and Stafford have a solid connection so far this season.
Jones was already a star last week, and while it’s not likely to expect 4 touchdown performances out of him consistently, he could still be expected to deliver the goods, as fantasy folks are starting to notice.
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