The Green Bay Packers are apparently heating up at the right time, playing their two best games of the season back to back, but they’ll need to keep building momentum to face their most important game of the season — this Thursday’s divisional matchup against the Detroit Lions.

The Packers might be 9-3, but they’re only in third place in the dog-eat-dog NFC North. The 11-1 Detroit Lions and the 10-2 Minnesota Vikings reign over the Packers in the playoff race, and Green Bay has lost to each of them once. While the Packers are in good shape to snag a Wild Card spot, Matt LaFleur’s squad has their sights set on loftier goals.

Hopefully, they’ll be able to count on cornerback Jaire Alexander‘s services in this vital divisional matchup. Things are trending toward Alexander playing against the Lions after two consecutive days of practice. Alexander’s status won’t be clear until closer to gametime, but his presence would be a difference-maker as part of an ascending defense.

Injuries have limited the star cornerback’s availability this season, causing him to appear in just seven games this season. Alexander was on a pitch count against the Chicago Bears in Week 11 and made an early exit after re-aggravating a knee ligament injury that started in Week 8. Alexander missed the past two games (victories over the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins), and while the defense weathered the storm, it’s a much better unit with Alexander in play.

#Packers coach Matt LaFleur said cornerback Jaire Alexander is progressing. He said there will be an assessment on how he looks in practice before they decide whether he will play Thursday.

— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) December 2, 2024

Even while missing time, Alexander is still one of the league’s best corners when available, maintaining a 75.2 PFF score, and, for what it’s worth, is currently CB5 in Pro Bowl voting.

The Packers didn’t have Alexander in their first matchup against the Lions, a 24-14 loss at home. The Lions might be best on the ground, but they feature a dominant passing attack with mighty receivers as well. The Packers tried to counter with their base defense, but they couldn’t stop Jared Goff, who completed 81.8% of his passes.

Offensively, the Packers arguably outplayed the Lions, having more rushing yards, passing yards, and first downs. But self-inflicted mistakes and an inability to get to Goff put the Packers in the L column.

Since that loss, Jeff Hafley’s defense has evolved and found better ways to live without their best corner.

Hafley leaned on his improved safety room, playing Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams deep to minimize damage. The linebackers, arguably the weak point of the defense this season, have improved over the past two weeks, with Isaiah McDuffie playing good, physical football and Quay Walker playing some of the best ball of his career, thanks to Hafley using him more as a blitzer.

The pass rush is coming alive after the Preston Smith trade, harassing the quarterback and making the secondary’s life much easier.

All of these factors helped lessen the burden on Carrington Valentine, Eric Stokes, and Keisean Nixon. Valentine is seeing more play after seemingly being forgotten for most of the season. While Stokes and Nixon have had their shortcomings, they played some of their best ball against Miami.

The Packers still struggled defending the middle of the field and gave up some garbage-time yardage to the Dolphins, but the defense made stops when it mattered. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, one of the league’s better one-two punches at receiver, were well limited.

Alexander surprisingly has not played in a divisional game this season, unless you count 10 first-quarter snaps against the Bears. Coincidentally, two of the Packers’ three losses were to divisional rivals. This is a perfect game to get Alexander back.

If Jaire Alexander can play Thursday it'll be his first divisional game of the season.

He missed 3 NFC North games already this year after missing 3 last year.

— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) December 2, 2024

Green Bay’s defense evolved when it needed to. Adding Alexander back into the mix can make for an even more potent attack in this divisional rematch.

The Lions are still the NFC’s best team but are coming off a close game against the Bears, where they were saved by some of the worst game-management decisions imaginable. Since their victory over Green Bay, the Lions also narrowly won a game where Goff through five interceptions. As good as the Lions are on both sides of the ball, they aren’t an infallible juggernaut.

Alexander can be a factor by limiting Amon-Ra St. Brown in the passing game, forcing Goff to attempt risky throws that lead to turnovers, which will be the key to overtaking the Lions. If the pass rush can continue its upswing, they can make Goff’s life uncomfortable and allow Alexander and the secondary to feast.

It’s unfortunate that Alexander has missed so much time since signing his extension in 2022, but Green Bay’s defense is undeniably better with No. 23 on the field. When healthy, he’s continued to be a star player. Hafley’s defense learned to play around his absence, leading to an upward-trending unit. Add their best cornerback back into the mix, and that defense can help the Packers survive the brutal divisional race.