He'll want to get back a throw from the red zone that hit him, but Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love had an otherwise encouraging performance in Sunday's 20-19 win over the Chicago Bears.
Other than the one missed shot that resulted in an interception, Love was right. He hit two deep passes down the field. He was perfect on passes over 10 yards in the air. He was perfect when making passes under pressure. He looked more comfortable throwing from a base platform and more mobile outside the pocket. And he led the Packers on a touchdown drive late.
Love completed 13 of 17 passes for 261 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He averaged 15.4 yards per attempt and 20.0 yards per completion.
Taking into account one throwaway and one drop, Love's adjusted completion percentage was 87.5 – his best season.
He scored on two passes thrown for over 20 yards – one on a 25-yarder that Christian Watson set up for a touchdown, and another on a 48-yarder in which Watson made a contested catch between two defenders.
Love was perfect on passes over 10 yards through the air and completed all six pass attempts for 182 yards and a touchdown.
Under pressure, Love completed 8-for-8 passing for 185 yards – averaging an incredible 23.1 yards per attempt – with two scrambles, including one that set up his go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. One play earlier, Love stayed in the pocket and delivered a punch to Watson just before he was hit, leading to an explosive 60-yard play.
Watson's catch-and-run game here is great. Undoubtedly the highlight of the piece.
Don't miss Jordan Love's touch as he blasts the ball, giving Watson a chance as he shoots straight into the chops. Beautiful.
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski)
In the first half, Love fired a fastball on a free to Jayden Reed for a score. He threw from a perfect base. He later made a great throw from a muddy pocket to Watson to convert 3rd-and-11. Both times, Love stepped into the throw and put some juice on the ball. On at least four occasions, Love managed to break the pocket and extend an off-schedule play, including one in which he kicked right and hit Romeo Doubs for 17 yards . It was clear that the knee and groin felt much better after saying goodbye.
With the game hanging in the balance, Love engineered the touchdown drive, hitting Watson for the big play and then doing the rest with his legs.
The interception was a bad play. Love had Tucker Kraft open on 3rd-and-11, and a good throw might have allowed the tackle-breaking tight end to get to the sticks and extend the drive. Instead, the throw was successful, the Bears made it, and the game quickly turned in Chicago's favor. The interception extended Love's streak to eight games with one interception to start the 2024 season.
However, when evaluating Love's overall performance at Soldier Field on Sunday, the choice was in error.
Love missed four passes against the Bears. One of them was a deflection from Jaylon Johnson on an underpass. One was disposable. One of them was a drop by Doubs on third down. One was choice.
Against a strong pass defense, Love consistently led the Packers down the field. The performance in the red zone could of course be better. The interception and a turnover on downs – when Love had to fight on consecutive plays – resulted in zero points on two of the five trips inside the 20. But in a game with few possessions, the Packers moved the ball consistently.
Forget about the results for a second. To get hot, the Packers needed Love to be more accurate and mobile, and coach Matt LaFleur was confident that if Love got healthy during the bye, he would likely solve some of the lingering issues in the passing game. Sunday was just one game, but Love looked healthy, more accurate and more mobile, and the Packers converted just 17 pass attempts for 261 yards. More progress is needed, particularly in the red zone, but an encouraging overall performance from a finally healthy quarterback in Chicago could lay the foundation for Love and the Packers to have major success over the final seven games.
