The numbers don’t look incredible – 12 of 24 passing for 113 yards, one touchdown and a passer rating of 77.3 – but Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love looked every bit the part of a former first-round draft pick during a terrific performance on Friday night against the New Orleans Saints.
Even coach Matt LaFleur admitted the box score couldn’t encapsulate Love’s overall performance.
“I thought there was a lot of good. I know the numbers don’t necessarily reflect what I feel,” LaFleur said.
Love played decisively and on time. He made terrific throws for big completions to both Juwann Winfree and Romeo Doubs, including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Doubs in the first half.
Love and the offense were plagued by drops. LaFleur counted at least five, including one from rookie Samori Toure preventing an explosive play and at least three others ending drives on third down. Tyler Davis had a fumble after a catch, killing another series.
On the Toure drop, Love moved to his left, reset his platform and delivered a perfect ball down the field in the rain. Toure just couldn’t hold on. Later, he used his eyes to create a throwing window up the seam to Rodgers, but the second-year receiver had his catch overturned on replay when the video evidence showed he failed to complete the play through contact.
On a 22-yard completion to Winfree, Love came up off play-action and dropped in a dime over the coverage. It was a perfectly-timed dropback and throw.
Earlier in the contest, Love felt pressure but threw an accurate ball on an out-breaking route to Doubs, who made the catch between two defenders.
Love also stood tall in the pocket and delivered a strike to Winfree to convert an early third down. And his scoring play to Doubs was a ball thrown where only his playmaking receiver could get it.
After a strong finish to joint practices this week, Love carried over the momentum to Friday night and operated the offense at a high level. It’s all about consistency and stacking successes for the third-year quarterback.
“I think the game has slowed down for him,” LaFleur said.
The progress has been incremental, but Love is starting to show his full skillset as an NFL quarterback. When everything goes right, it looks really good. On Friday night, the process for Love looked really good overall, even if the final result in the box score wasn’t necessarily there.
