Last year, the burden of carrying the Green Bay Packers’ offense often fell on the shoulders of running back Josh Jacobs. And, more times than not, Jacobs answered the bell.
Jacobs has had an up-and-down season, so quarterback Jordan Love has been the driving force of the offense. On a primetime stage Sunday night against Aaron Rodgers, of all people, Love showed he can carry the team when it’s required.
At one point during Sunday’s win, Love completed a stunning 20 consecutive passes. It was a threshold that even Rodgers never crossed during his Hall of Fame career in Green Bay.
Love finished the night 29 for 37 for 360 yards and three touchdowns. When facing the Pittsburgh Steelers’ blitz, Love carved them up to the tune of 12 for 17 with 211 yards and three touchdowns. Yes, every single passing touchdown came when facing the blitz.
The second half, in particular, was a perfect harmony of Love wheeling and dealing, with head coach Matt LaFleur dialing up plays that loosened the reins. Everything came together, and on the rare occasion Love tossed a 50/50 ball like the one he threw to Tucker Kraft on a third-and-five on the opening drive of the third quarter, it turned into a 59-yard gain. Everything was clicking.
Tucker Kraft hauls in the Jordan Love heave for 59 yards!
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LaFleur hyped up his quarterback following the win.
It’s been cool – and I’ve said this many times – just to watch how he’s matured as a young guy coming in here at 21 years old. He’s a grown-ass man now. … Going into this game, I’m sure he put a lot on himself … he’s just so consistent in who he is, through the good times and the bad times. There’s moments where you can sense the frustration from him, but he keeps going. To be honest with you, I kind of like it when he gets a little (ticked) off because you don’t see it too often.
For all the comparisons Love has drawn to Rodgers and Brett Favre throughout his career — whether fair or not — on Sunday night, his game ruled all. It gave a peek behind the curtains of what could be yet to come.
Pittsburgh didn’t totally stifle the run game. Emanuel Wilson had a splendid game with 61 rushing yards, most of which came in the second half. However, Jacobs struggled mightily and didn’t look like himself, rushing for 33 yards on 13 carries.
Time and again, when Green Bay needed a big play on offense, they turned to Love. It was in those moments that he was at his best, which is typical of some of the best in the league. Love isn’t quite in that category of a Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, but if Sunday is any indicator, he’s quickly climbing the ladder.
Micah Parsons didn’t mince words, calling Love “the successor” after the 35-25 thumping.
He’s showed he’s the successor. He’s the up-and-coming. Like J-Love, talking about when I was coming here, I was like, “I know they’ve got a quarterback, I know I’ve got a quarterback.” I’m just so proud of him, everything he’s been through, how he’s developed as a player, how he’s developed as a person, and he’s just playing some really good football right now.
His predecessor, Rodgers, had a firsthand look at Love’s masterpiece. Rodgers was more than complimentary afterward.
He played great, played fantastic. He’s had a really nice season. He’s been really efficient with the football. He’s opportunistic, though I felt like he was very patient tonight. He took the run solutions, he took the checkdowns, moved in the pocket well. Thought he played really well.
Ideally, the best recipe is to have the run game and the passing game work in unison to secure wins. It isn’t the worst thing in the world, though, when you occasionally need your quarterback to be the head of the snake and single-handedly dismantle an opposition. Knowing that Love has that in him has to be incredibly refreshing for everyone roaming around 1265 Lombardi Ave.
In a game that felt like a playoff atmosphere and was in a standalone spot on primetime, Love not only played well, but he also stole the entire spotlight and basked in it. He did what Rodgers and Favre accomplished in so many big spots on big stages: silenced a lot of doubters.
If Green Bay is fortunate enough to land a ticket to the postseason this season and it can get anything close to this version of Love, it will be an extremely tough task to knock them out.