Protégé becomes prodigy as Jordan Love dazzles in matchup against Aaron Rodgers
The Green Bay Packers came back from a nine-point halftime deficit to roll the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game headlined by a matchup of former teammates. The current Packers QB out-dueled the old one
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The Green Bay Packers faced Aaron Rodgers for the first time since he left Green Bay on Sunday night, and it was Jordan Love who played like the four-time MVP. Love played arguably the best game of his career in a 35-25 win that required a second-half comeback and a slew of spectacular throws.
Today’s edition of The Leap digs into a signature Love game, the incipient rise of a tight end superstar, and more.
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Jordan Love paints his masterpiece
Peter Bukowski: Jordan Love was not his normal, placid self at halftime after the Packers offense managed a meager seven points.
“To be honest with you, I kind of like it when he gets a little pissed off because you don’t see it too often,” Matt LaFleur said of Love after a frustrating first half.
After the defense forced a three-and-out from Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love took off. The Green Bay offense scored on five straight possessions, erased a nine-point halftime deficit, and all but abandoned the run game in favor of letting Love make play after play.
According to Pro Football Focus charting, Love had a 100% adjusted completion rate (that’s excluding throwaways and drops), 214 passing yards, and 2 touchdowns in the second half.
At one point, Love completed 20 consecutive passes, accomplishing something Rodgers never managed in a Packers uniform. According to NextGen stats, the chances of Love accomplishing that feat given the difficulty of the throws were .1%.
Love also became the first quarterback in NFL history to complete 20 consecutive passes in a game, while also throwing for 350+ yards, three touchdowns, with no turnovers or sacks (according to Opta Sports).
Love had a Rodgers game in front of Rodgers and showed why the Packers are Super Bowl contenders. When he plays like this, Green Bay can beat anyone.
Is it time for the Packers offense to be Tucker Kraft-centric?
PB: Better late than never, but yes. LaFleur loves to call screens for Kraft in plus territory and the red zone because of Kraft’s ability to create after the catch. He leads the league in YAC per reception this season, a stat that is unlikely to change after a dominant 143-yard performance on seven catches with two scores.
The first third-down conversion of the game came on a ridiculous 59-yard catch-and-run where Love had to heave the ball with heavy pressure, and Kraft found the ball before the defender. From there, it was the kind of play that would get Kyle Brandt’s testosterone spiking with an angry run, leaving Steelers defenders in his wake.
The second touchdown showed the kind of player Kraft can be outside the red zone, winning on an in-breaking route from a stacked release. He accelerated out of the catch and into the end zone.
It’s the kind of play Kraft talked about wanting to be able to make more of this season. The final step in his evolution would be to have more of those opportunities between the 20s. If he can do that to a linebacker in the condensed space of the red zone, he can do it on 3rd-and-8 from midfield.
For him to reach the truly elite levels of the position—and he’s on that kind of trajectory—that’s where he has to be able to win.
He’s too big for safeties and too fast for linebackers. If he can win with **puts on sunglasses** craft as well, then his ceiling is “best tight end in the NFL.”
Is Carrington Valentine the CB2 after his performance against the Steelers?
PB: Valentine’s performance raises the question of why this was ever not the case, given how Nate Hobbs has looked on the outside this season. Valentine did give up a late touchdown to Roman Wilson on a vintage Rodgers second-reaction play, but the score was purely aesthetic.
Valentine plays with the same sort of swagger and edge that Hobbs brings, but has shown significantly more in coverage.
The Packers did use Hobbs on three plays, though two didn’t count due to a penalty, as a slot defender. Using him as the slot corner in obvious passing situations over Javon Bullard makes sense. He is a better cover player than Bullard against receivers, but the Steelers don’t have receivers to worry about there.
But don’t be surprised if we see someone like Hobbs far more against a team like Detroit where defending the slot will be paramount. Hobbs missed the Lions game while recovering from knee surgery. Though Jeff Hafley’s defense had few issues with the new-look Lions offense in Week 1, Hobbs may be needed in the rematch.
They can figure that part out. For now, Valentine has played his way into the starting job and did nothing Sunday to lose it. This is CVs job until further notice.
Where do the Packers go at kicker after a disappointing night from Brandon McManus?
PB: After the game, LaFleur said he trusted his veteran kicker to determine if playing was the right call, and in the first half, it didn’t.
(LaFleur said they’d reevaluate this week).
According to FTN Fantasy’s Aaron Schatz (formerly of Football Outsiders), the missed 57-yarder from McManus was just the fourth field goal this year charted as “short.” McManus is coming off a quad injury that kept him out two games and has shown himself to be a strong-legged kicker in his NFL career. On the other hand, Havrisik came off the street after preparing to be a substitute teacher and did not miss a kick in his stint that included a 61-yarder against the Arizona Cardinals that went through the uprights with room to spare.
At 34 years old, McManus is hardly “too” old by kicker standards, but Havrisik is 26, and with the strong-legged kickers around the leg, it’s fair to wonder if the Packers have to take a risk to keep pace with guys who can casually put them in from 55 yards and over.
Green Bay didn’t decide on McManus as the starter until pre-game warmups, and while that decision looks misguided with the benefit of hindsight, it’s also reasonable to conclude the Packers’ regular kicker would look better fully healthy.
On the other hand, he is 34 years old, and older players, even at a position like kicker, break down as they get older. Father Time is undefeated for a reason. If nothing else, LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst have a decision that looks much more difficult today than it looked Sunday morning.
Most gratifying victory of the season. I got my wish-- I wanted AR to play well, and for the Packers to win anyway.