Jordan Love Is The Constant

Off the heels of authoring his first comeback in the Green Bay Packers' win over the New Orleans Saints, Jordan Love is showing the promise he has waited to show

Entering this 2023 NFL season, there was no bigger question facing the Green Bay Packers than what they had with their new starting quarterback.

The long-gestating transition of passing the torch from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love dominated the offseason, but after three years of serving as the understudy to a future Hall of Famer, it was time for Love to take the reins. The Packers’ dramatic home opener Sunday afternoon, an 18-17 win over the New Orleans Saints, showed just why Love has been ready for this moment as he authored the first comeback victory of his career.

Nothing about Love’s first 3 games of the season has been ideal. He has been without his top wideout in Christian Watson, has had his starting running back in Aaron Jones for just 2 quarters and his All-Pro left tackle, David Bakhtiari, for just the season-opening win. All of those things serve as contextual pieces behind why Love’s start to the season has been promising and has not been without some struggles and certain statistical oddities. All of which was embodied in his Week 3 performance.

Love was the engine to the Packers offense, especially as the running game suffered yet again without having Jones in action. The first 3 quarters saw the Packers shoot themselves in the foot repeatedly. Drives stalled out as they endured penalties in several consecutive drives and in the brief glimmers where they were putting together threatening drives in Saints territory and/or field goal range. It was all just an extension of the Packers’ fourth quarter performance in their collapse to the Atlanta Falcons the week before.

Getting blanked at home, Love was certainly not above making mistakes. His ability to convert deep shots with any of his weapons has been a weakness, no doubt. Entering Week 3, Love was just 1-for-7 on throws attempted 20 yards or more, per Pro Football Focus. And judging by his passing chart versus the Saints, Love was just 2-for-11 on such passes, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

Love’s accuracy issues and completion percentage has certainly been a popular topic of conversation and going 22-for-44 on the day has only put his passing inconsistencies in a greater light. Even while we can debate at who was at fault for all of those missed opportunities and knowing that this Saints defense has been one of the best to start the year.

Yet, what has been very apparent in Love’s growing starts is the persistence and resiliency under center. Love’s play in the fourth quarter was practically a tour de force in this department.

Entering the fourth quarter down 17-0, Love orchestrated three straight scoring drives that catapulted the Packers to the comeback win. He showed the poise of a veteran field general as he picked apart the Saints’ suspect cornerbacks (specifically former Packer Isaac Yiadom) and dropped dimes to targets such as Romeo Doubs and Jayden Reed.

Love’s ability to scramble and make plays on the ground after seeing clean pockets break down extended drives and led to his 2-yard rushing touchdown to give the Packers their first TD of the day. And it was no accident that he was the team’s leading rusher with nine carries on 39 yards and that aforementioned score.

And more importantly, Love’s growing mastery of the red zone has been a huge weapon for this Packers team, especially after having struggled so mightily with Rodgers under center last year. After Love connected with Doubs for that game-winning 8-yard touchdown with 2:56 remaining in the fourth, Love is 8-for-17 (47.05 completion percentage), 65 passing yards and has 5 TDs in the opponent’s redzone. And the Packers have one of the most efficient red zone offenses so far after having converted 7-of-9 of their red zone attempts.

There is much more for Love to gain as he accrues more experience in his first full year as a starter. He has soaked up plenty while being on the sidelines for vast majority of his career and having a far more generous future Hall of Famer in Rodgers compared to what Rodgers had in front of him. There are many more areas of his game that certainly needs polishing and hopefully that will be helped by having Watson and Jones on the field as soon as Thursday when the Packers host the Detroit Lions.

But what can’t be in question, especially after he was responsible for 298 of the Packers’ 340 yards Sunday, is that Love is ready for this moment. He is meeting these challenges head on and the environment for him to develop into the next Packers’ starting quarterback of the next decade is certainly there for him to prosper.

How Love continues to handle this opportunity will define this Packers season and long-term future. But make no mistake, Love appears more than ready than what many expected him to be going into the year. And it could only be a matter of time before he takes that Lambeau-sized leap.