There is little doubt that the Green Bay Packers were on top of their game in the final two weeks of the regular season and their surge continued into the playoffs. Quarterback Jordan Love played his best football of the season in those four games, and was able to keep mistakes to a minimum up until the final drive of the divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Packers had been courageous for nearly four full quarters. They had dictated the pace throughout the game and had led for most of it. However, when Christian McCaffrey scored on a 6-yard run with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter to give San Francisco a 24-21 lead, the heat on Love was significant.
Pressure mounts on Love
He had just over one minute to drive the Packers to a tying field goal or perhaps a winning touchdown. Love was able to convert a third down into a first down when he hit tight end Luke Musgrave with a 3-yard pass to the Packers 36-yard line.
However, they were still a long way from field goal territory with 59 seconds left to negotiate at least 25 yards. That would have allowed erratic rookie placekicker Anders Carlson an opportunity to attempt a 56-yard field goal. There is no doubt that head coach Matt LaFleur and Love wanted more than that.
On the next play, Love was looking for a big chunk of yardage. When nothing opened up immediately, Love sprinted to his right with the hope that one of his receivers would break open. That did not happen, but instead of looking for a safety valve or throwing the ball out of bounds where he could live to fight another play, Love decided to throw late and across his body into the middle of the field.
Love paid for that cardinal sin. His pass to Christian Watson was not close to its destination and it was intercepted by Niners linebacker Dre Greenlaw at the San Francisco 42.
The pressure was on Love and it was too much for him. He made a poor choice and choked at the big moment. As a result, the Packers season was over.
Big-time playoff performance for Love against Cowboys
Think of the performance of the Packers quarterback in the Wild Card game against the Cowboys. Not only did the Packers go on the road and beat the heavily favored Cowboys, they wiped the field with head coach Mike McCarthy's team on the Dallas home field.
The Packers played a spectacular game, and nobody was better than Love. He completely outplayed Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, who had been viewed as a legitimate MVP candidate.
Love completed 16 of 21 passes for 272 yards with 3 TDs and no interceptions against a physical and hard-hitting Dallas defense in his first playoff game ever. He took what the defense gave him and was comfortable throughout the game.
He looked like he belonged under center for a Green Bay Packers team that had featured Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers before him at the QB1 position.
If Love was not a quarterback of substantial ability, he would not have succeeded under those conditions.
Spectacular growth during the season for Love
The Packers made the decision to make Love their starting quarterback in the offseason when they parted company with Rodgers. While there was little doubt that Rodgers was a diva who was difficult to manage, he was also one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.
Love demonstrated he was more than up to the challenge. He completed 372 of 579 passes for 4,159 yards with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions during the 2023 season. Love also demonstrated he could get away from pressure, as he ran for 247 yards (4.9 yards per carry) and 4 touchdowns.
The most encouraging part of that performance was the improvement that he demonstrated as the season progressed.
The Packers started to turn their season around on Thanksgiving Day when they went into Detroit and beat the favored Lions 29-22. Love was the architect of that triumph as he completed 22 of 32 passes for 268 yards with 3 TDs and no interceptions.
That game told the coaching staff that Love had arrived and he was capable of leading the Packers effectively in key games against top-level opponents.
Green Bay's season was on the line in the final three games of the regular season. Love led the Packers to victories over the Carolina Panthers, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, and he had a 7-0 TD-interception ratio in those games.
Conclusion
Jordan Love proved during the season that the Packers have a brilliant quarterback to lead them in future seasons. His name is not Favre or Rodgers, but he just may be good enough to lead them to a title in the very near future.
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