Paul Bretl | 11/19/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — It wasn’t the Packers’ best performance on offense this past Sunday against the Chicago Bears, but it was a game in which Jordan Love looked more like Jordan Love after navigating a knee and groin injury during the first half of the season.
Watching this game unfold live, it felt like a bit of a clunky performance from the Packers’ offense–and certainly, at times, that was true. But after taking a step back and rewatching the game, the play of Love and the offense as a whole looked more crisp.
With the Chicago offense moving the ball on the ground, that allowed them to control the time of possession. When it was all said and done, the Bears would hold the ball for almost 13 more minutes than Green Bay and run 25 more plays than what the Packers did.
So because of this, opportunities for the Packers’ offense were limited. Excluding a kneel-down before halftime, the Packers had just six possessions in the game. However, it turns out they were quite efficient in moving the ball. On five of those possessions, they made it all the way to the Chicago red zone. Green Bay also averaged 8.5 yards per play, which to put into context, Baltimore leads the NFL through 11 weeks in that category, averaging 7.0 yards per play this season.
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Josh Jacobs provided the offense with stability, totaling 132 yards between 18 rushes and four receptions. Christian Watson, meanwhile, provided the often-needed spark, with 150 receiving yards on just four receptions. And there was Love, who played a “pretty solid game,” as Matt LaFleur put it on Monday.
With only six possessions, Love passed the ball just 17 times but completed 13 of those attempts for 261 yards, generating several explosive plays on passes to Watson, along with Jacobs adding a 23 yard catch and run completion as well. Love’s 15.4 yards per attempt were the most in football in Week 11, and again, for more context, the season lead in that category is Jared Goff at 9.2 yards per attempt.
But going beyond the numbers, Love looked more so like his old self now feeling healthier coming out of the bye week. Coming into this game, he was a full participant in practice all three days, which hasn’t been the norm this season as he worked through the aforementioned lower body injuries.
The impact of this is that, one, he is getting important practice reps as he prepares for the game, in addition to the improved mobility. This allowed for more under center snaps from Love, and a greater usage of play-action, two key elements to the LaFleur offense.
Love being able to move around better also helped facilitate his 13-yard run to the pylon that set up his one-yard rushing touchdown on the next play. But also important, that improved mobility was on display in how Love moved about and manipulated the pocket.
“There was one of the third and longs in the first half where he hit Christian Watson,” said LaFleur. “Just the ability to hang in the pocket and have those subtle movements that we always look for, for that pocket manipulation, and then throwing a strike to Christian Watson. So, I thought all in all, like I said, I thought he played a pretty solid game.”
Now, having said all of that, it certainly wasn’t a perfect performance by any means. I’m going to guess the red zone interception left a sour taste for many. But unlike several of Love’s previous interceptions, the decision-making that resulted in the throw was sound. It was just an off-target throw, which obviously has to get cleaned up, but it’s also more so an isolated incident versus some concerning trend.
“It was a good decision,” said LaFleur of the throw. “That’s where the ball, that’s where the play was designed to go. It’s third-and-10. We needed Tuck to drop-step and get what he can to set up either a first down or a fourth-and-short, where now you have a decision to make. The ball sailed on him. It is what it is. I’m not going to get bent out of shape about it. We’ll look at just the drop mechanics, all that. He knows. It happens sometimes.”
Even on the downfield pass to Watson in double-coverage, you can look back and see Tucker Kraft running open on an intermediate route, and hindsight being 20/20 you’d say that’s where the ball should go. But from a process standpoint and the calculus that went into that decision, Love was again sound in how he got to the end result, which was choosing to throw to Watson over Kraft–the safety just made a good play, although Watson negated that by making an excellent play of his own.
“When I started moving, the safety was kind of playing both Christian and Tucker,” Love said, “and I saw Christian put his hand up that he was going deep and I thought he was beyond the safety and I think the safety did a good job as I was throwing of turning his hips and taking Christian. But anytime the ball’s in the air you love it when a receiver can go up and make that play and make you right.”
That decision-making component was also on display in Love’s willingness to dump the ball off to Jacobs, who led the team in targets with five, was tied with Watson in receptions, and was second on the team in receiving yards. Quarterbacks coach Tom Clements has said that a pivotal part of Love’s turnaround in 2023 was knowing when to take the checkdown and when to push the ball downfield. Against Chicago, we saw him strike that balance.
“He’s a smart guy,” said LaFleur of Love. “He’s intentional about his work. You know, that’s where we need him to play because there was a few instances – I thought all in all our offensive line did an outstanding job giving him the protection he needed but there were a couple times where we busted a protection and people got in there and there was no hesitation. It was like boom, I’m getting to the checkdown. I thought he did a great job.”
What really hurt the Packers was their performance in those key, must-have-it situations, specifically third downs and in the red zone. Green Bay was just 1-for-5 on third down attempts and 2-for-4 in the red zone, which included leaving with no points–not even a field goal–on two occasions.
This was always going to be a difficult matchup for the Packers coming into this game, with them having struggled situationally this season and the Bears’ defense being one of the best in both the red zone and on third downs.
“They’re really good,” Love said of the Bears’ defense. “I think we had some opps and obviously I think we left a couple plays out there but like I said they’re very good in the red zone and third down. We knew that coming into the game. Obviously red zone, you want to put up more points. You want to finish a drive with touchdowns. Obviously the interception in the red zone did not help us. Like I said they do a good job in the red zone.”
Many of the Packers’ issues in these situations stem from first-down struggles, whether it be a penalty, dropped pass, off-target throw, or whatever it may be that puts them behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations. Even for the best offenses, spending too much time in these get-back-on-track situations is a tough way to live in the NFL, with the offense being at such a disadvantage compared to the defense when forced to become one-dimensional.
Without question, there is plenty that has to get cleaned up coming out of this game. But as Brian Gutekunst discussed during the bye week, one of the goals each season is for the team to be peaking at the right time. No one is going to say that the Packers have reached that point, and truthfully, it’s only Week 12, so you don’t necessarily want them to just yet either. But the overall play from Love in Chicago was a step in that direction.