Jordan Love keeps showing he can lift the Packers’ offense thanks to traits that go far beyond his arm
Quarterback Jordan Love had a strong performance against the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
Against a team that has a +17 turnover differential, comfortably leading the NFL, avoiding interceptions and big mistakes was a key for Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Love did throw an interception on a third-and-17 on the very first drive, but he was able to bounce back in a big way to lead the Packers to a 28-21 win over the Chicago Bears — and the first place in the NFC North race.
Part of that ability to overcome a bad play was Love’s maturity. Yes, he is in Year 6 in the NFL. And while it’s only his third season as a starter, his experience to handle intense situations is evolving.
“Just a bad read by me, bad decision, one that I kind of just forced in there and the ball didn’t come out of my hand the way I wanted to and went straight to him,” Love said about the turnover. “It’s a bad decision, something that obviously happened and it’s all about overcoming that. And we put our defense in a tough spot and they’re able to overcome that. And for us, it’s just about moving on and playing that next play. But yeah, obviously you want to limit those and not have that situation right there. But I just got to keep going.”
Ability to lead the offense in different ways
Jordan Love is not necessarily the most vocal quarterback, but you can see his development as a leader. In the Bears game, he changed multiple play-calls at the line of scrimmage after reading the defense — he adjusted Christian Watson’s route after seeing man coverage in his second touchdown, and canned the touchdown run from Josh Jacobs late in the game.
“[The interception] was obviously a tough play, but I thought outside of that he did a really good job, number one, taking care of the ball, but just making huge plays,” head coach Matt LaFleur said. “That third-down throw to Christian Watson, he sees man coverage and he checks to that play, and that’s a hell of a job by him. Same with the first touchdown pass to him, he sees all that pressure and he checks to that play, and just a great job by him.”
Beyond his performance on the field, Love leads what has been an exceptional locker room — and that helps explain why the Packers have been so successful lately after a rough stretch earlier this season.
“It’s hard to win games without great players, and we’re fortunate,” LaFleur added. “What’s so great about our guys is we feel like we have a lot of great players, but as great of players as they are, the character in that locker room is second to none. I love that group, I love this team, and we’re just going to continue to battle.”
At this point, it’s undeniable how good and consistent Jordan Love has been. But that goes way beyond his stats, and his ability to be a general of the offense is a big step in the right direction for the entire team.
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