The last couple of weeks were rough for Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers’ offense. In Week 9, they managed only 13 points against a Carolina Panthers defense that ranks near the bottom of the league in EPA/play. A week later, they scored only seven in a 10–7 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Love matched his season high in turnover-worthy plays against Carolina and posted his season-low passer rating in that game. Then, against the Eagles, he set a new season low with a 68.6 rating, finishing with just 176 passing yards and only 4.8 yards per attempt.
“You feel like, as an offense, you’re letting the defense down,” Love said after the Eagles game.
On Sunday, Love and the offense bounced back against a New York Giants defense that entered the week ranked 29th in EPA/play, putting up 27 points for the fifth time in a win this season. He also threw two touchdowns to Christian Watson. But if you didn’t watch the game and only checked the box score, you’d probably think he was average – 54.2% completions and just 174 yards.
That couldn’t be further from the truth.
The Packers had five drops in the first half, bringing their total to eight over their last six quarters. Those five drops matched their most in any first half since ESPN began tracking the stat in 2006. For context, Green Bay had only five drops total from Weeks 1 through 9.
Down by seven points early, Green Bay faced a third-and-11 at the Giants’ 49-yard line. Love avoided an unblocked rusher, reset his feet, and fired a laser to Romeo Doubs, who had his defender beaten – but Doubs dropped it. Green Bay punted on the next snap.
Doubs had another drop later in the game, and John FitzPatrick also let a wide-open throw slip through his hands on the outside.
“It’s obviously frustrating, but it’s a team sport,” Love said post-game about the drops. “It takes everybody out there making plays. I’m confident in these guys.”
It’s a shame Green Bay’s receiving corps had its worst performance of the season in the Big Apple. Love was throwing dimes all over the field. Down one with less than six minutes left, the Packers faced a third-and-10 from their own 47. Love stood tall in the pocket and fired a dart to Savion Williams, setting Green Bay up inside the red zone.
To cap off the drive, Love ripped a laser to Christian Watson to take the lead and eventually seal the win.
On that go-ahead scoring drive, Love completed four of six passes for 71 yards and a touchdown. The big plays included a 32-yard strike to Williams on third-and-10, a 13-yard gain to Romeo Doubs on first-and-20, and a 17-yard throw to Christian Watson on second-and-seven.
Pass protection was shaky all game. That was expected with a new starting center and a Giants front featuring the NFL’s co–sack leader Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence a.k.a Sexy Dexy, and former third-overall pick Abdul Carter. Still, Love stood tall against the pressure and kept delivering dimes.
“It was so gritty and tough,” LaFleur said of Love’s performance. “He was under duress, it felt like, quite a bit. He did a really nice job giving guys opportunities to make plays.”
“Certainly had a lot of drops had to overcome, but just the mentality … when your quarterback is in the locker room, that’s not a great feeling,” he added. “His ability to come back and play the way he did, I was really proud of him.”
So if you just look at the numbers, you might think he was average against New York. However, his performance was anything but. He carried himself like a top-10 quarterback, delivering a fourth-quarter comeback and a game-winning drive when his team needed it most — and the Packers needed that win to build some momentum heading into a divisional showdown with the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday.
