Welp, Jaire Alexander Got Torched by a Rookie.
Ted Schwerzler
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The Minnesota Vikings went into Lambeau Field on Sunday as one-point favorites and emerged with a 14-point victory. It was a somber feeling at the end because of Kirk Cousins’ presumed season-ending injury, but the Packers could have had a funeral to bury Jaire Alexander as well.
Welp, Jaire Alexander Got Torched by a Rookie.
Mat LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers are not a good football team. They were ill-equipped to live life beyond the departure of future Hall of Fame quarterback, and there will be more bad than good going forward. Jordan Love doesn’t look like the answer, and they need an influx of talent all over the field. Two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander should not be among the issues, but he absolutely was on Sunday.
Alexander, who often is viewed as a shutdown corner and has a very high opinion of himself, was tasked with following Jordan Addison around the football field. By definition, he did that but was often a step or two behind. The Minnesota rookie was targeted eight times, catching seven of those passes and turning in 82 yards. The culmination was a play where Addison went straight down the field and left Alexander trailing in his wake.
When the dust settled, following a Lambeau Leap from the Minnesota rookie, Alexander had little more to contribute than some shoving and extra talking. The Packers defense was largely ineffective all day, and Addison had no issue taking Green Bay’s top corner to task. Even though this was just his eighth professional game, Addison remained an elite option against an otherwise notable cornerback.
What’s worse is that Alexander couldn’t handle the rookie even without superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson on the field. It’s not as though Alexander hasn’t been taken to task by the NFL’s best wide receiver, either.
During Week 1 last season, the Vikings welcomed the Green Bay Packers to U.S. Bank Stadium. Christian Watson dropped a pass in the early going that seemed to create a cascading effect for the game, and Jefferson had his way with the Packers corner. Posting 184 yards on nine catches while finding paydirt twice, Jefferson put up a big line and allowed his play to do the talking.
As the season went on, and Minnesota had a game in Week 16 against Green Bay on the road, Alexander continued talking about revenge. An ugly game for the Vikings resulted in a 41-17 drubbing, and Jefferson had just a single catch for 15 yards. Alexander seemed to believe that performance had absolved the shellacking handed to him the last time out, but it’s clear that he’s still searching for answers.
Fortunately for the Packers and Alexander, Jefferson wasn’t on the field Sunday to embarrass the cornerback. Unfortunately, a rookie less than halfway into his first full season was able to do just that. Maybe Alexander will circle the game in Minnesota later this year as an opportunity to get revenge, but he’ll likely be facing an even taller task with Jefferson back in the lineup.
Unfortunately, someone of Cousins’ caliber won’t be dicing up the Packers defense, but if we saw anything on Sunday, it is that talented wide receivers can make all of Alexander’s talk look hollow anyways. Addison showed out in his first rivalry game, and he got the better part of the vocal defensive back the entire time.
Ted Schwerzler is a blogger from the Twin Cities that is focused on all things Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings. He’s active on Twitter and writes weekly for Twins Daily. As a former college athlete and avid sports fan, covering our pro teams with a passion has always seemed like such a natural outlet.
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