Amid a last-season push to crash the NFC playoff picture, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has identified one encouraging trend that has pushed the 7-8 Packers back into contention.
“I think the exciting part about it is some of those mistakes we were making early on in the season, now we've corrected those things and we're turning them into big-time plays,” Love said on Wednesday, courtesy of The Athletic's Matt Schneidman.
A Week 10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers dropped the Packers to 3-6, and the season appeared lost as Love and the offense struggled.
But a Week 11 win over the Los Angeles Chargers kicked off a three-game winning streak. Matt LaFleur's team has now won four of its last six games. Entering Week 17, it has a 26 percent chance to earn a playoff berth.
Win over their NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings in Week 17, and the Packers would have a better than 50-50 shot to make the tourney with 55 percent odds.
Love hits stride in second half of season
Green Bay's success has coincided with Love's best stretch of the season, his first as the Packers' starting quarterback after the franchise moved on from long-time starter Aaron Rodgers.
Across the last six games, Love has posted a passer rating of 100.0 or better five times. Three times, he's posted a QBR of 90.0 or higher. Before this stretch, Love had three games with a passer rating north of a century. He hadn't produced a 90.0 QBR in any games.
Part of producing more big plays has been avoiding giving the ball to the other team. Just one of Love's 11 interceptions has come since Week 10. A healthier receiving corps has also helped to unlock some of the potential the Packers saw in Love.
Whether they can sneak into the playoffs this season is one thing. But the Packers have to feel like their patience and faith in Love is being rewarded.
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