The next Monday Night Football game doesn't include two loaded rosters, necessarily, as the Green Bay Packers and the Las Vegas Raiders are 21st and 30th in total DVOA, respectively, after the first four weeks of the season. But there is one specific elite matchup coming up: wide receiver Davante Adams versus cornerback Jaire Alexander — this, of course, if Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry is willing to allow Jaire to follow the opposing star receiver and Packers' old friend.

The Raiders offense has been terrible so far — 31st in DVOA, ahead just of the New York Giants —, but Adams is still a prolific receiver. He's had at least six receptions and 60 yards in each game, totaling 33 receptions, 397 yards, and three touchdowns over the first month of the season. Las Vegas scored only 17 points on the Denver Broncos, who allowed 35, 70, and 28 in the other games. So, it's an obvious conclusion: Davante is the most dangerous and efficient weapon, and the Packers defensive priority should be limiting him. To be fair, the Packers defense isn't good either — 21st in DVOA.

Enter Jaire Alexander, who has missed the last two games because of a back injury, but should be back in Las Vegas.

The Packers star corner is still the highest-paid defensive back in football on average per season. When the Packers awarded him with a four-year, $84 million extension, the expectation was that they would use him as the elite player he is, trying to erase opposing wide receiver ones from games. For the most part, he has done that — when given the chance. But that's not always the case.

The two games against the Minnesota Vikings last year are the best examples. In the first one, Joe Barry preferred a traditional soft zone approach, and Justin Jefferson amassed Green Bay with nine receptions for 184 yards and two touchdowns. In the second game, Jaire followed Jefferson, and the talented WR had just one reception for 15 yards.

When recently asked if the Packers should have a more aggressive defensive approach, Jaire hinted that the numbers spoke for themselves.

"I think at this point it's pretty self-explanatory, you know?" Alexander stressed. "That's just the way."

So what approach will Joe Barry choose for Monday?

Long history

Davante Adams and Jaire Alexander will face off in a game for the first time ever — it's Adam's first game against the Green Bay Packers after being traded to Las Vegas for first- and second-round picks in 2022. But that doesn't mean the two star players haven't aligned in front of each other several other times. Right when Jaire entered the NFL, in 2018, the former Packers coaching staff promoted a competition. Alexander was forced to cover Adams in practices, so that could speed up his learning curve in the league. The plan seemed to have worked.

"He (Adams) has that ability to get in and out of his hips," said at the time then Packers cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr. "So many people are so worried about the slant that now you get beat vertically. The way he can get out of breaks, the separation he causes."

In 2018, Whitt told Jaire: "Now you see what a Pro Bowl receiver looks like.".

Five years later, both are All-Pro players. And if given the opportunity, they will promote a really exciting matchup that could determine the winner in a game between two below-average units.

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