He’ll be looking to recover a red-zone kick that he missed, but Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love turned in an otherwise encouraging performance during Sunday’s 20-19 victory over the Chicago Bears.
With the exception of one miss that led to an interception, Love was true. He made two deep passes downfield. He was great at passing in the air over 10 meters. He was excellent at passing under pressure. He looked more comfortable throwing from the base plate and more mobile outside the pocket. And he led the Packers to an emphatic touchdown overdue.
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.
Including one sack and one drop, Love’s adjusted completion percentage was 87.5 – his best mark of the season.
He connected on two passes of more than 20 yards – one a 25-yarder to Christian Watson for a touchdown and the other a 48-yard pass in which Watson made a tight catch to two defenders.
Love was excellent on passes over 10 yards through the air, completing all six of his pass attempts for 182 yards and a touchdown.
Under pressure, Love passed 8-for-8 for 185 yards – an average of 23.1 yards per attempt – on two attempts, including one that got him the go-ahead pass in the fourth quarter. Before the play, Love was hanging in the pocket and hit Watson just before the snap, leading to an explosive 60-yard play.
Watson’s catch and run game is amazing. The most essential moment of the show without a doubt.
Don’t miss the shot of Jordan Love, who passed the ball and gave Watson a chance as he fired a shot straight at the axe. Gorgeous. pic.twitter.com/F8Bci4NjOK
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) November 18, 2024
In the first half, Love quickly shot to Jayden Reed on a leisurely play and scored. He threw from a perfect base. He later made a phenomenal throw from the muddy pocket to Watson, converting a 3 and 11. On both occasions, Love stepped into the throw and squeezed some juice out of the ball. At least four times Love was able to break the pocket and extend the play off schedule, including once when he went to the right side and found Romeo Doubs for 17 yards. After saying goodbye, it was clear that my knee and groin felt much better.
With the game in the balance, Love engineered a touchdown drive, hitting Watson on the decisive play and then using his legs to do the rest.
The interception was a impoverished play. Love opened up Tucker Kraft on a third-and-11, and a good throw could have allowed the tackle-breaking tight end to reach the sticks and extend the drive. Instead, the throw was successful, the Bears took advantage of it, and the game quickly turned in Chicago’s favor. The interception extended Love’s hitting streak to eight games, with an interception to start the 2024 season.
However, the choice was wrong based on Love’s overall performance at Soldier Field on Sunday.
Love missed four passes against the Bears. One of them was Jaylon Johnson’s rebound of an underhand pass. One was to be thrown away. One of them was Doubs’ third-down drop. There was one choice.
Against a powerful pass defense, Love consistently led the Packers down the field. Performance in the red zone can obviously improve. Steals and turnovers on downs – when Love had to fight on subsequent plays – resulted in zero points on two of five trips inside the 20. But in a game that lacked possession, the Packers consistently moved the ball.
Forget about the results for a moment. To get scorching, the Packers needed Love to be more true and mobile, and coach Matt LaFleur was confident that Love’s recovery during the bye would likely solve some lingering problems in the passing game. There was only one play on Sunday, but Love looked vigorous, true and more mobile, and the Packers converted only 17 pass attempts for 261 yards. More progress is required, especially in the red zone, but an encouraging overall performance in Chicago with a finally vigorous quarterback could lay the groundwork for Love and the Packers to continue on a scorching streak over the last seven games.
