Jordan Love reveals the one area the Packers needed to improve and showed major signs of progress in win over the Lions
Offense had a fast start against Detroit.
Beating man coverage was certainly a challenge for the Green Bay Packers last year. In part because of the frequent drops, in part because quarterback Jordan Love was less mobile due to his injuries, teams started to use man more regularly down the road in 2024 against Green Bay—and it worked. Even teams with zone-heavy tendencies, like the Minnesota Vikings, threw change-ups to challenge the Packers at the line of scrimmage.
It seems like that reality started to change on Sunday, when the Packers beat the Detroit Lions 27-13 to open their 2025 regular season. Love talked about how efficient the offense was against some man looks, and how the planned or adjusted plays worked.
“We had a great plan coming in for our third downs, and obviously third downs just come down to execution, going out there and making plays,” Love said after the game. “Early on, they were playing a lot of man, and guys going out there and winning their one-on-one matchups.”
One play in particular exemplifies what the offense was able to do against the Lions. Love adjusted the call at the line of scrimmage to beat man coverage and found wide receiver Jayden Reed wide open to score a touchdown.
“We saw their man coverage and got to a man check,” Love explained. “J-Reed ran a great route. We got a little bit of a rub, which made it easy for me to just lay one up to him and finish it right there.”
Efficiency when it mattered the most
The Packers didn’t have the cleanest offensive game in the second half, but overall the unit was efficient when it mattered. The offense had a 29% success rate on first and second downs, and the number went up to 71% on third and fourth downs. Usually, early down success is more sustainable, but this is still a small sample size for both instances.
“Everybody’s just making plays and walking their way. Just going out there and winning their matchups on some of their routes and executing at a high level,” Love added. “That’s always the test, just coming in here and executing. We had some guys banged up through camp and missed some practice time. I missed some practice time, which is never ideal, but you’ve got to find ways to stay focused and stay sharp throughout the week.”
Jordan Love completed passes to ten different targets, but nobody had more than three receptions. The concept of spreading the ball around is not new, but it won’t go away this season.
“It just goes to show you the depth we have at receiver, tight end, and running back. We’ve got playmakers all around and guys that can come in here and catch the rock and make plays,” Love highlighted. “That’s what you want as an offense, to be able to spread the wealth around and keep the defense on their heels on who we’re going to be targeting. It comes down to all those guys being dialed in and going out there and making plays.”
Now, the Packers have a short week to prepare for the next game. On Thursday night, the offense will try to keep the momentum against the Washington Commanders at Lambeau Field.
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