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Quarterback Jordan Love leads the Packers on a wild ride in a win over the Texans

Posted on by Kennedy
Quarterback Jordan Love leads the Packers on a wild ride in a win over the Texans

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GREEN BAY – It looks like it's going to be a wild ride with Jordan Love this season.

Love is becoming more comfortable at the helm in his second year as the Green Bay Packers' starting quarterback, and that means a thorough mix of excitement and headaches over the seven weeks of the NFL schedule.

Everything was possible in the Packers' 24:22 win in their last game against the Houston Texans on Sunday. A few great touchdown passes. A few throws that certainly made coach Matt LaFleur's heart pound. And with the game on the line, kicker Brandon McManus engineered a confident drive in the final 1 minute, 44 seconds that set up the comfortable game-winning 45-yard field goal as the final seconds ticked down.

“I feel like he’s still figuring it out,” said sixth-year running back Josh Jacobs, who is new to the Packers this season. “I think he has the potential to be the guy in this league. Obviously, as a team, we have the utmost confidence in him, and even when he makes those (bad) plays, we'll never stumble because we know he'll admit defeat and make another play. We trust him.”

Jordan Love's final 2-minute chance ended in an interception against the 49ers

It's worth remembering that the last time Love found himself in a similar situation at the end of a game was in the divisional round of the playoffs, when the Packers lost at San Francisco last season. Needing a field goal to tie the game, the drive ended with him throwing an unnecessary desperation pass on the run that was easily intercepted by Dre' Greenlaw to seal the game.

In fact, Love had three genuine 2-minute chances to win or tie a game last season, and all of them ended in interceptions: a risky low shot in Las Vegas with 44 seconds left in a four-point game was intercepted in the end zone; a final-play throw from Pittsburgh's 16 that was intercepted at the 2; and the terrible interception in the 49ers game.

To be fair, these weren't the only late-game chances Love had last year. He led the Packers to a game-winning touchdown against New Orleans in the final 5½ minutes; threw a high-risk first-down interception on a deep throw with 1:40 left to lose two points in Denver; took the New York Giants lead in the final 3½ minutes, but then watched the Packers defense give up a game-winning field goal in the final 1½ minutes; and led a game-winning field goal drive at Carolina in the final 4:05 minutes.

A quarterback's ability to thrive in these situations doesn't need to be overestimated, because so many NFL games come down to getting the ball last. It's fair to say that Love was 0-for-3 in true 2-minute drills to start Sunday and scored points on two of four more chances late in the game.

Sunday was the type of rush NFL teams regularly practice, with less than 2 minutes on the clock (1:44), the ball at the 30 and only one timeout. In practice, they probably would have needed a touchdown to win, would have started at the 40 and had maybe 1:20 left. On Sunday they only needed a field goal.

With Houston blitzing on almost every play, Love went 5-for-8 for 33 yards and brought the Packers within 26 yards of Houston with three seconds left.

After the game, coach Matt LaFleur called it Love's “superpower” to get back on top of the game-winning play after two poor interceptions earlier in the day. It's also something that, when done a few times, instills great confidence in a quarterback in the locker room.

“I thought he showed great poise and just had the ability to bring us down at the most critical moment,” LaFleur said. “Certainly 2-minutes, I don't want to say it was a problem for us, but some bad things have happened to us in some of these situations. If we can get the win in a two-minute situation and win the game, that will give us a lot of confidence going forward.”

Jordan Love continues to score big touchdowns and bad interceptions

This game was a great reflection of how Love has played all season. He threw three touchdown passes, including two of the flashy variety. He also added two interceptions to his league-leading total of eight interceptions, and it's worth remembering that he is at the top in that category despite missing two games due to an MCL injury. This from a guy who threw 11 interceptions in his first regular season as a starter in 2023 and just three in his final 10 games last season, playoffs included.

Love's 14-yard touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft early in the second quarter was a tight-window dart that was just millimeters out of diving safety Calen Bullock's reach. His 30-yard touch-throw to the pylon to Dontayvion Wicks came on a chaotic no-huddle play in which the Packers opted for the quick snap, leaving Houston unable to see replays on whether Love had done so on the previous play an incompletion had been thrown down the field, or a return pass for a fumble, as it appeared was the case.

Love's interceptions included a throw over the middle to Wicks that two Texans could have picked off on the game's first possession and a poor throw on a crossing route to Christian Watson in the second quarter.

But Love kept firing (95.5 rating, 24 of 33 for 220 yards) even as the Packers' offense faltered in the second half. His game-winning performance came after he made a three-pointer on three straight possessions, giving the Texans one chance too many to take the lead.

“Sometimes that’s the price of doing business,” LaFleur said of the wiretaps. “If you’re aggressive with your play calls, things can happen.”

Love said, “You have to go out there and play it. You can't try not to be aggressive and do checkdowns all day long, you have to go out there and be aggressive and win those games. I will always play the way I play and learn from my mistakes.”

It's probably not uncommon for quarterbacks in their second or even third year as starters to struggle with interceptions. After the first season, they are more confident and more willing to take risks and explore their limits. Brett Favre threw 24 interceptions in his second season as the Packers' starter after throwing 13 in his first. Tom Brady threw a career-high 14 early in his second season. Ben Roethlisberger and John Elway each threw a career-high 23 in their third season, and Peyton Manning had 23 in his fourth season.

Love is on a similar path. With eight interceptions in five games, he is on pace to throw 23 balls this season. He is also on pace for 45 touchdowns.

These trends may change throughout the season, but it's certain that Love will have its ups and downs. The bottom line, however, remains that the Packers are 3-2 in his five starts and 5-2 overall. It's worth noting that they finished 10-6 in Aaron Rodgers' second season as starter and 9-7 in Favre's.

“There are all kinds of ups and downs in a game,” defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. “(Love) kept his composure and made plays all day long. This is our quarterback. I love it, I love watching it. We always have his back and he won the game for us. Brought us back, put us in field goal range and won the game. Honor goes to him. I’m definitely glad he’s our quarterback.”

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