Vikings pass rush will have tough task ahead of them with Jordan Love, who will amplify one of Minnesota’s weaknesses
It’s not going to be an easy task for the Vikings.
One of the biggest questions in the NFC North surrounds the Green Bay Packers: how good is quarterback Jordan Love?
We are in his third year as a starting quarterback after being the 26th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and we are still have conversations about how good he is. Why are we having those conversations? He’s very inconsistent.
Over the past two years, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has gotten the best of Love in three out of four meetings, including utterly dominant first halves in both games last season.
Jordan Love has taken step forward this season
What has Love looked like this season? It’s been a mixed bag, with their three losses being games where Love has played poorly, especially against the Cleveland Browns. However, our Packers beat writer Wendell Ferreira believes that Love has taken a step forward.
“Love has taken a step forward, especially in terms of consistency,” said Ferreira. “He might not be the ultra-elite quarterback in the tier of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson, but he’s right after that. Love still makes some wildly bad plays, and that might catch your attention, but the mistakes are becoming rare. Love’s had a 2.7 turnover-worthy play rate this season, which is better than players like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, Brock Purdy, CJ Stroud, Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers, Trevor Lawrence, and Daniel Jones.
“Only Love and Matthew Stafford have a big-time throw rate of 5.5 percent or more and a turnover-worthy play rate of 3 percent or less. He had some tough games against the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles, in particular, so it’s still possible to limit him sometimes — especially because the offensive line has been underwhelming at best. However, individually, Love is more mature and he’s elevated the offense like never before.”
Considering the optics of how Love plays, seeing a turnover worthy play rate that low is really impressive. That in itself doesn’t bode well for the Vikings, as turnovers have been the biggest struggle for the defense. They have forced just nine turnovers this season, and five of them came in one game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
With Love doing a great job of taking care of the football, he theoretically won’t have much of an issue against the Vikings’ defense taking care of it. That could be what does the Vikings in on Sunday, unless they can change their luck. Maybe they will make some of their own in Lambeau Field.
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