Paul Bretl | 10/21/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. –Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans was an up-and-down performance for Packers’ quarterback Jordan Love, to say the least. However, trailing by one point with less than two minutes on the clock, Love showcased his superpower, as Matt LaFleur put it–his resiliency.
“That’s his superpower,” said Matt LaFleur after the game. “No matter what’s happened, whether it’s good or bad, he continues to fight and be resilient. The moment’s never too big for him. I thought that was huge for him to be able to take us all the way down the field and get an opportunity right there to kick a field goal. Hat’s off to him.”
Beginning at their own 30-yard line with 1:44 left on the clock, Love orchestrated an eight-play drive that took the Packers offense down to the Houston 26-yard line. While there were some instances where Love tried to push the ball downfield–both of which fell incomplete–that calm, cool demeanor that Love possesses was on display in how he took what was available and moved the offense down the field roughly 10 yards at a time.
Love was 5-for-8 passing on that drive with completions of eight yards, 13 yards, 12 yards, no gain, and six yards.
“My mind-set is just take it and just make it another drive,” said Love after the game. “Obviously there’s a lot of pressure, the game on the line, so I think if you let the moment get too big you’re not going to be able to go out there and execute the way you want to.
“So I definitely just tried to focus on breathing and slowing the heart rate down and things like that, but just trying to focus on the details of plays and make the most of that situation. Definitely just trying to make it as normal another drive as possible.”
Love finished the game 24-of-33 passing for 220 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Those two giveaways will be what subtracts from Love’s overall performance, but against a stingy Houston defense, there were some brilliant throws from Love as well prior to that two-minute drive, including a tight window throw in the red zone to Tucker Kraft for a score and 30-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks–a throw that was dropped in a bucket between the cornerback and the safety who was closing in.
“I think it was all right,” said Love of his play. “I definitely want to be able to limit those mistakes, the interceptions, just do better taking care of the ball. Definitely got to clean that up. I think if I clean that up it would be a better game. That definitely hurt me. But you know, gotta bounce back and respond to them. Game’s not going to be perfect, but definitely moving forward want to be better with the ball.”
This wasn’t the first time that Love’s ability to bounce back and seemingly ignore what’s happened previously in the game has been on display. In fact, this is a trait of his that LaFleur has complemented and commented on fairly often.
However, another sign of growth for Love–who is still a relatively young player when it comes to starting experience–was not only that he led the Packers’ offense into field goal range but the manner in which he did it. In some past two-minute situations, we saw Love try to force the ball downfield and make the big play happen rather than letting it come to him based on what the defense was doing.
But on Sunday, Love took what the defense was giving him. Knowing there was enough time on the clock and a timeout remaining, there was no panic as he and the offense plotted their way down the field.
“We knew, we had a good amount of time there, so just trying to move the ball, and I think we did that,” added Love. “Threw a couple slants right there. Rome had some big-time plays, Tuck made a guy miss and got a couple extra yards. Just trying to get those yards and chip away, get to what we thought would be field-goal range, around that 30-yard line. It’s stuff that we practice all the time, just going out there and having to find a way to execute and finish it.”
There’s a balance right now that Love is still trying to strike in regards to when to be aggressive and push the ball versus taking the checkdown. Despite missing two games, Love’s eight interceptions are the most in football at the moment. On the flip side, he’s also among the league leaders in touchdown passes and yards per pass attempt–a good measurement of efficiency.
Love has the ability to make all of the throws on the field, so what the Packers don’t want to do is put the governor on his ability to utilize that strength. As LaFleur described last week, when it comes to downfield throws versus the checkdown, a lot of it has to do with the situation and point the offense is at in the game that should determine the aggressiveness on a given play.
With that said, at the end of the day, Love has a talented arm and if the matchup or coverage dictates that he should take a shot, he’s going to do that. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement, whether that be in accuracy at times or in the calculus that led him to that decision, but when you have a top-flight passer, you expect him to make top-flight throws, and that’s what Love is attempting to do.
“You just gotta play the game,” Love said. “You’ve gotta go out there and play it. You can’t try and not be aggressive and take checkdowns all day. You’ve got to be out there and be aggressive and go win those games. I’m always going to play the way I play, and learn from mistakes, and grow from them.”
While it was Wicks, Kraft, and Josh Jacobs who hauled in Love’s three touchdown passes, the go-to target in the passing game for the Packers was Doubs, including on that final possession. Doubs finished the day with eight receptions on 10 targets for 94 yards.
Packers’ passing game coordinator Jason Vrable has discussed in the past that there isn’t a player on the team that catches more balls throughout the week than Doubs, who is often the first to practice to get reps on the JUGS machine. Vrable has also noted Doubs’ strong hands, which were on full display on Sunday with him aggressively going after the ball to pluck it out of the air.
“I’m just being a player, just controlling what I can,” said Doubs post-game. “And I know, I’m not the only guy that can go in our room. So, I’m going to have to keep emphasizing on that because anybody in our room can go.”
Against what was a 5-1 Texans team that has been one of the more well-rounded squads this season, the Packers overcame several of their own self-inflicted mistakes to come away with a big win. Obviously a win over a good opponent is momentum that can be catalyst to bigger and better things, but it’s not only the fact that the Packers won that will carry weight, but how they did it, overcoming some of the difficult situations they put themselves in.
“I think it can build a lot of confidence,” said LaFleur of the win. “You can never take winning for granted in this league. As sloppy as some of the play was out there today, I loved the effort of our guys, the resiliency of our guys, the ability to respond to some adversity I think is huge. Obviously, that’s a playoff-caliber football team – I think one of the best teams in the league. We’ll never apologize for winning.”