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GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (AP) — The Green Bay Packers enter the regular season finale and decide their playoff fate. This is because his only Pro Bowl selection cemented his status as one of the league’s top cornerbacks.
Jaile-Alexander, who already had a career-high five interceptions this season, delivered his best performance in a 41-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Alexander helped the Packers limit Vikings star Justin Jefferson to one catch for 15 yards.
The Packers (8-8) will clinch a four-game playoff berth if they beat the Detroit Lions (8-8) at home on Sunday night with a five-game winning streak.
“It’s playoff football from here. It’s been like that for weeks,” Alexander said after the Vikings game. “It shouldn’t change.”
Alexander received a four-year, $84 million contract extension in the offseason, despite only playing four games in 2021 due to a shoulder injury. ”
After a slow start to the season, that secondary has finally reached that level. The Packers picked Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins three times on Sunday and recorded nine interceptions during Green Bay’s four-game winning streak.
Alexander caught nine passes for 184 yards and stopped Jefferson, who scored two touchdowns in the season-opening 23-7 win over the Packers.
The Packers didn’t start their Sept. 11 matchup with zone coverage, simply lining up Alexander and Jefferson every game.
Alexander called Jefferson’s performance in that game a “fluke” last week. Alexander admitted his coach wasn’t happy with the comment.
“But it’s the confidence I have in myself and the people around me,” Alexander said. “So, hey, that’s what it is.”
With more opportunities guarding Jefferson on Sunday, Alexander did just that.
The Packers need a big game from him again as Green Bay makes a secondary deal with Detroit’s Amon La St. Brown.
St. Brown had eight catches for 109 yards and a touchdown in the Lions’ 37–30 win over the Packers in the final week of the 2021 regular season. This season, in the Lions’ 15–9 win over the Packers in Detroit, St. Brown had 55 yards and he had four receptions.
“This guy, he’s a tough competitor,” Packers coach Matt Raffler said Monday. His ability to win 1-1s, his ability to make tough catches, his ability to get YAC (Yards After Catch), he’s a slob. ”
Alexander has many of those same traits. He wants to prove that Green Bay’s secondary is as good as his preseason comments suggest.
“All year round we always say we are the best,” Alexander said. “We’re the best in the league. We’re longevity in this league, so we can start hot, but some end up waning. But it’s like we keep going up.”
what is working
The Packers have scored 12 points in their last four games. That matches his first 12-game total of the season. The Packers have had his margin of minus five turnovers in a 4-8 start, but are plus nine in the last four games.
what needs work
The Packers blocked the punt to give the Vikings their first goal at 1, setting up a field goal to give Minnesota an early 3–0 lead. That blocked punt came a week after the Packers botched a fake punt attempt in Green Bay’s 26–20 win in Miami.
stock up
CB/KR Keithian Nixon scores on a 105-yard kickoff return A week after his 93-yard return set up a field goal. … After being benched early in the season, Darnell Savage regained a prominent role in defense last week, Scored on a 75-yard interception return Sunday when he returned to the starting lineup. … RB His Aaron Jones has been playing through ankle and knee injuries, but he still had 14 carries and he rushed for 111 yards. … K Mason Crosby played a 56-yard field where he scored a goal. Rambo made him the longest on-field goal scorer in Packers history, surpassing London his Fletcher for the 257th consecutive game and the fourth-longest streak in NFL history. Only Jeff Feegles (352), Brett Favre (299) and Jim Marshall (282) have longer streaks.
stock down
WR Christian Watson couldn’t sustain his breakneck midseason pace forever. After scoring eight touchdowns (seven receiving, one rushing) in the four-game stretch that ended in Chicago on Dec. 4, the rookie second-round pick had 11 catches for 106 yards. and no touchdowns in his last three games. He had one reception for 11 yards on Sunday while playing with a hip injury.
injured
K Ramiz Ahmed was activated from the practice squad to handle Sunday’s kick-off but suffered a groin injury in the pre-match warm-up.
key number
105/75 — Nixon and Savage made the Packers the first team to score at least 105 yards of kickoff returns and at least 75 yards of interception returns in the same game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The previous team to score with at least 100 yards of kickoff returns and at least 75 yards of interception returns was Minnesota in 2016.
next step
The Packers will advance to the playoffs as the 7th seed in the NFC if they beat the Lions. If the Seattle Seahawks lose at home to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the Lions could beat the Packers and advance to the playoffs.
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