Packers: Five players key to victory in Week 1 vs. Vikings

Jaire Alexander

The Packers’ pass rush — led by the Smiths, Clark and Rashan Gary, who is eager to prove his value — will be disruptive. I have little doubt about that. I fully expect for the Packers’ team of pass rushers to harass Kirk Cousins at every turn.

That means there is likely to be big opportunities for the Packers secondary and Jaire Alexander. What better way to get what I expect to be his year of dominance, started off right.

It is likely the Packers would like to match up their best cornerback against the Vikings’ best receiver. That means a heavy dose of Adam Thielen for Alexander.

That also means he will likely see the lion’s share of passes thrown his way.

If Alexander can take away Cousins’ favorite weapon in the passing game, that means the Vikings will have to rely on a rookie seeing his first action in the NFL (Justin Jefferson) and little known Bisi Johnson. That would go a long way in shutting down the Vikings’ air attack.

And if Clark does his job, Alexander doing his means the defense could throughly shut down the Vikings.

Well folks, the season is finally here. The first matchup should be a good one. A division rival at noon on Sunday, what better way to start the year?