You probably remember that first Jordan Love NFL start in Kansas City, during the 2021 season. The quarterback was completely overwhelmed by Steve Spagnuolo blitzes, and the Green Bay Packers offense wasn't able to produce. Going into this year, Love's first one as a full-time starter, that was certainly a concern.

It's not anymore. Over the second half of the season, Jordan Love has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. And that level of performance led to a Packers 48-32 win over the Dallas Cowboys, putting the Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs.

This is high-level quarterback stuff. pic.twitter.com/YNs6l5h6PD

— Wendell Ferreira (@wendellfp) January 15, 2024

One play, in particular, showed how Love has grown over the last two years. The touchdown throw to Dontayvion Wicks — the quarterback's first postseason passing score. For head coach Matt LaFleur, "that was one of those plays that you can sit there and watch all day long."

What a sequence it was:

• Jordan Love hard counts, forcing the Cowboys defense to show what they were going to do.
• Love identifies the cover 0.
• He adjusts to max protection, keeping tight end Tucker Kraft to block.
• The quarterback takes extra steps in his dropback to gain extra time.
• Love throws a laser to Dontayvion Wicks, beating a one-on-one coverage.

According to head coach Matt LaFleur, the Packers weren't necessarily expecting cover 0 blitzes from the Cowboys. Dallas showed some of it earlier this season against the Philadelphia Eagles, but with little time to prepare, the Packers focused more on what was more likely.

But when Jordan Love saw what was coming, he immediately adjusted to a perfect protection for that scenario, leading to the touchdown.

"You gotta judge how much time you wanna put into that. And for him to be able to put us in a max protection look," LaFleur said. "We could've even blocked a little better and he would've had even more time. But just the growth to be able to do that, in a matter of a few seconds, to get Tuck (Tucker Kraft) to stay in protection, to hang in there, you have a free runner at you. I just thought that was so impressive. That's just a great example of the growth that's transpired with him."

And that was just Jordan Love's first playoff start. He could feel overwhelmed like he did in Kansas City two years ago, but now the circumstances are much different. LaFleur trusts him and knows he can execute anything the offense needs.

"My only advice to him, and it's been this way once we hit a certain spot during the season, is just go out there and be aggressive," LaFleur added. "Trust what you see and let it rip. We're here now, you can't hold anything back. He went out there and played exactly like that."

Overall, Jordan Love couldn't have had a more impressive playoff debut. He completed 76.2% of the passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns, a 157.2 passer rating.

The arrow is pointing up for the Packers, but they are not done yet. It's a difficult balance, but there's no reason to stop fighting now, in spite of the season already being a major success based on previous expectations.

Matt LaFleur preaches the "one day at a time" mantra, projecting a daily developmental process. Jordan Love has had so many of these days, and he's seen the results of that approach.

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