For the first part of his starting career, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love was known mostly for two traits – his cannon right arm, and so much belief in that right arm that Love was willing to attempt any kind of throw.
The latter part led to Love earning a reputation for being mistake-prone. He threw 11 interceptions in 2023, his first year as Green Bay's starter, and two more in the postseason. Then he opened 2024 with an eight-game interception streak and 11 total picks by the end, including three in Week 4 against the Vikings, the most of any NFL quarterback who had played eight or fewer games.
Then a light switch apparently flicked for Love. He didn't throw a single interception for the rest of the season, until the playoffs, when the Eagles got him three times in their NFC Wild Card game.
This year, Love has been much more careful, with just three interceptions on 177 pass attempts, despite the fact that some of his favorite targets have been sidelined. The Packers haven't had their most versatile receiver, Jayden Reed, since Week 2 because of a broken clavicle and foot injury that both required surgeries. Their best deep threat, Christian Watson, didn't make his season debut until Week 7 after coming back from last year's ACL injury.
Love's concentration on reduced risk has helped to place him among the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks. Here's how he ranks among his contemporaries in major passing categories:
Category Rank
Completion % 70.4 (4th)
Passer Rating 107.9 (7th)
Yards/Attempt 8.3 (3rd)
Yards/Completion 11.7 (5th)
Comp % Over Expectation +5.5% (8th)
EPA +70.7 (3rd)
EPA/Dropback +0.26 (1st)
Interception % 1.2 (t-5th)
Cutting down on ill-advised throws has clearly made Love more efficient, but it also hasn't made him any less threatening downfield, evidenced by his yards per attempt and yards per completion.
Watson's return has armed Love with a major vertical threat, and the two wasted no time reconnecting in Watson's debut game Week 8 against the Steelers.
Love has played in coach Matt LaFleur's system his entire career, so he's comfortable with all the pass concepts. Maybe in the past, that would've been a risky throw, but as soon as Love recognized the post safety play the underneath route, he knew there would be a window open for Watson to get the ball into, and put it perfectly between the safety and corner.
Earlier in the game, he found Watson on a nifty play-action deep over, with Watson initially aligned in tight to scrimmage to give the appearance of a run.
Much of the Packers' pass game is predicated on play action, which typically gives Love extra time to stick his back foot in the ground and also presents defined reads.
When Watson plants that back foot decisively, he throws with major zip and accuracy.
And then there are times like those when Love just trusts Watson to make a play, an element that the Packers had lacked with Watson and Reed sidelined.
Like the Rams, the Packers frequently put multiple tight ends on the field (12 and 13 personnel) to lure defenses into base looks and five-man surfaces. The Packers then use those looks against their opponent by using play action against fewer bodies in zone coverage.
That play design was well-scripted, as third-year TE Luke Musgrave (88) pivoted from a crosser – a common route off play action – to a corner route that created a high-low concept on the right side, a known zone-beater. Musgrave got behind Carolina's linebackers and then reached high to bring in Love's pass.
Musgrave, a 2023 second-round pick, should play an important role for the Packers going forward as Green Bay lost its top tight end, Tucker Kraft, for the season with a torn ACL injury in Sunday's loss to the Panthers.
In Jimmy Kempski's Eagles-Packers preview, he showed an example of Love throwing some rare ill-advised passes against the Panthers – one that was intercepted, and another off a scramble that was even worse and should've been picked but the defensive back dropped the ball in the end zone.
Earlier this year, Love threw another head-scratching pick after being chased from the pocket against the Bengals.
Love doesn't make throws like that very often anymore, but if the Eagles and their new-look pass rush can move him off his spot and force him into bad decisions that become interceptions, their chances of winning will go up.
The Packers only have two losses this year, both by one possession, and Love has one interception in each loss.
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