The perception around what Jordan Love can be drastically changed over the last three weeks. The Green Bay Packers quarterback has truly been much better, and he's the big reason why the team won two of its last three games.

After being 25th in EPA+CPOE composite and success rate over the first eight weeks of the season, Love is 7th in EPA+CPOE and 11th in success rate between weeks 9 and 11. And there is one specific area of the game that has been imperative for Love: deep throws.

Right now, Jordan Love is second in average depth of target, while the Packers are 19th in yards after the catch. That combination means that Green Bay depends on its passer to execute long air-yard throws to create big plays.

Over the last three games, Love is 9-15 on throws of at least 20 yards, getting 283 yards and two touchdowns. His passer rating on those plays was 130.3.

Until week 8, Jordan Love hasn't had any game with a PFF passing grade over 69.0. He had three consecutive of those: 76.3 versus the Los Angeles Rams, 74.4 versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, and 69.5 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

"Really proud of Jordan," head coach Matt LaFleur said after the Packers win on Sunday. "Just the poise that he showed, the leadership that he showed. He made some big-time plays."

Rookie impact

Jordan Love leads the NFL with 18 completions gaining 30 or more yards, according to PFF. And it's particularly impressive how impactful the Packers rookies have been. Of those 18 plays, 12 have been completed to first-year targets: Jayden Reed (7), Dontayvion Wicks (3), and Luke Musgrave (2).

Reed has been especially productive and efficient for the Packers, generating an 116.9 passer rating for Love when targeted. He leads the team with 463 receiving yards.

"Things are just clicking now," Jayden Reed said about the offensive improvement over the last three weeks. "We work hard every week in practice, we give all we got. We've been together the whole year as a team, as a group. There were a few meetings that we added on Tuesdays, it will come in as a skill group and watch the film on our own. I think that's been a huge deal for us."

Even though Love's numbers have been better, Reed doesn't have the perception that there's any drastic difference in individual performance. The rest of the offense is executing better, and Love's leadership is becoming more evident.

"Everybody is playing better. Jordan has been the same guy, he never gets complacent," Reed added. "He's a neutral player, never get too high, never get too low. He's him, so I think he's done a great job all year of keeping that mindset and he just got us rolling."

Opposite direction

If the Green Bay Packers offense is trending in the right direction, the Detroit Lions defense has not played nearly as well as they had been before and immediately after their first matchup. Between weeks 1 and 8, the Lions were 8th in EPA/play and 7th in dropback EPA. Over the last three weeks, the team fell to 31st in EPA/play and 32nd in dropback EPA.

The Lions coaching staff, though, is still confident.

"We know who we are", defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said after the team gave up 38 points to the Los Angeles Chargers two weeks ago. "We now have the capability to go out there and play really, really good ball. There's no secret to why we rank up there pretty high."

Rookie WR shines in Packers win over the Chargers

Jayden Reed had 92 scrimmage yards