Jordan Love silences doubts with performance that proves the Packers were right to move on from Aaron Rodgers
Green Bay got an impactful road win over Rodgers’ Pittsburgh Steelers on “Sunday Night Football,” and Love was the main reason why the Packers pulled it off.
Aaron Rodgers is still a smart, accurate, skilled quarterback. This is not about him. This has to be about Jordan Love. The Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-25 with an amazing second-half performance, improving to 5-1-1 and maintaining the first seed in the NFC.
But more than that, the Packers were proved right once again by their decision to, first, draft Jordan Love back in 2020, and second, to move on from Rodgers and allow the young quarterback to shine. On a big “Sunday Night Football” stage, that’s exactly what Love did — and beautifully, against Rodgers.
As the veteran quarterback himself would say, how can you not be romantic about football?
A special night for Jordan Love
Jordan Love had one of the biggest regular season moments of his career in front of him. He responded with his best performance in the NFL. For Aaron Rodgers to see it, for Packers fans who still don’t understand what Brian Gutekunst did five years ago to see it. And to put the league on notice. After a rough first half, with only seven points due mostly to other people’s mistakes, Love locked in after halftime, with a nearly perfect second half. The Steelers’ defense was overwhelmed by Love’s consistency and efficiency. At some point, the quarterback had 20 consecutive completions, a career high in the NFL for him.
If there was any question about why the Packers were so adamant about moving on from Rodgers to give Jordan Love his shot, the youngster killed them on Sunday night.
More than that, Love did all that with his natural demeanor. You can’t say when things are going well or not based on his expressions. And that’s a positive factor, because the team can just keep performing, play after play, to do what it is supposed to without extra pressure.
Love completed 29 of 37 passes for 360 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. A 134.2 passer rating. The stage couldn’t be bigger, and Love showed the world he is ready for it.
Tucker Kraft has arrived
It’s hard to find a better connection this year than Jordan Love and Tucker Kraft have created. Love was awesome on Sunday, throwing on time, creating second-reaction plays, accurate, aggressive. And Kraft has reached the elite level he has the talent to, with strong hands and an impressive ability to generate yards after the catch.
There are several positive aspects for the offense, and scoring these many points against a respectable defense isn’t an easy feat. But nothing has been more impactful than Love throwing the ball to Kraft, how efficient those plays usually are, and how much easier everything else becomes for the offense.
On the National Tight Ends Day, Kraft finished the game with seven catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
LaFleur has to trust Love more
Especially on second downs early in the game, Matt LaFleur has lacked the confidence to allow Jordan Love to shine. It’s just too many unnecessary run calls, while Love’s explosiveness is what makes him a special quarterback. LaFleur is a great offensive mind and a good play-designer, but he had to be more aggressive, even though the running game is a central part of his offensive structure.
The Packers were obviously more effective and efficient throwing the ball than they were running it, and they had to be pass-happier and let the runs to the final ten yards of the field, where they’ve been successful. It’s just a matter of leaning on what’s working.
In the second half, LaFleur smartly adjusted his approach. There are still runs here and there to keep the defense honest, and that’s fine, but he started using the short passing game as the curveball, and it was much more effective — and a great way to delay the Steelers’ powerful defensive front.
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