By Joey Bonadonna
The Green Bay Packers have some lofty goals towards becoming a Super Bowl contender in 2025. Nearing the end of the regular season, they sit at 9-3-1, making a push for the best record in the NFC and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
While much of the narrative has been dominated by the splash trade acquisition Micah Parsons, questions still loom about what Jordan Love’s ceiling is as a quarterback. Earlier this season, in an edition of Get Up on ESPN, former Jets and Bills head coach Rex Ryan said he “has no love for Love,” citing the third-year starter’s propensity to turn the ball over in the big moments.
In the Packers’ most recent win over the Chicago Bears, Love finished with 234 passing yards and three touchdowns, en route to reclaiming pole position in the NFC North with four weeks left to play. Still, the talking heads on ESPN felt concerned about his one first quarter interception. On First Take, former NFL MVP quarterback Cam Newton spoke further about Love’s struggles earlier in the season, especially against teams that can put pressure on the quarterback in the pocket.
Jordan Love has turned the ball over six times this season, throwing four interceptions and fumbling twice. He threw three interceptions in the Packers’ wild card loss to Philadelphia last season and the year prior, he threw a game-ending pick to end his first season as a starter in the divisional round against San Francisco.
To that point, however, do these moments simply play into Love’s style of passing? For the Packers, Love requires a different level of patience that hasn’t quite been afforded to him from people outside the building due to the pressure of the situation he came into as a starter. After fifteen seasons of unprecedentedly-clean quarterback play from Aaron Rodgers, his gunslinger prototype has been a massive change of pace in Titletown. As the team looks poised to make the postseason for the third time in as many seasons with Love at the helm, it’s time to silence those doubters.
Per Pro Football Focus, Love has 12 turnover-worthy plays this season at a rate of just 2.6 percent. That’s good enough for sixth-lowest in the NFL. Even still, for every turnover-worthy play, Love has also shown that he can make the needle-threading throws that the elite passers can make in the NFL. He currently sits at third in the NFL this season in big-time throw percentage. Only Matthew Stafford currently owns a better big-time throw to turnover worthy play ratio.
Remember what Newton said about Love’s struggles against teams that get after the quarterback? Well, the stats show he actually thrives in that department. Love owns the lowest pressure-to-sack percentage among NFC quarterbacks, displaying his ability to maneuver in the pocket and extend plays. If you can’t get him down with a four-man rush, he’s also proven time and again his poise against the blitz. According to PFF, all three of Love’s touchdowns against Chicago came against an extra man on the rush, accumulating a near-perfect 156.3 passer rating.
The league has also seen a steady decrease in aDOT (average depth of target) from passing offenses over the past few seasons. Love has proven he can buck that trend with the ability to get the ball down the field. His aDOT has consistently ranked towards the top of the league over his three seasons as the starter in Green Bay. Entering Week 15, he sits sixth on the leader board after back-to-back finishes in the top five, averaging about 9.1 air yards per target.
Jordan Love is a high risk-high reward quarterback. If the risk is he might throw an interception with seven minutes to go in the fourth, I’ll take the reward that he can lead the game-winning drive with two minutes to go instead. If volatility is the cost of greatness, the Packers should be more than thrilled to pay the price. You don’t have to play it safe to win a Super Bowl. Jordan Love has displayed his ability to show up for his team in the big moments. This January, it’s time to prove it to the rest of the league.
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