Pete Dougherty: Packers ride the Jordan Love roller coaster to comeback win over the Texans
GREEN BAY - Looks like it’s going to be a wild ride with Jordan Love this season.
Love is more comfortable at the helm in Year 2 as the Green Bay Packers’ starting quarterback, and that’s meant a thorough mix of the eye-popping and head-scratching through seven weeks of the NFL schedule.
It was all there Sunday in the Packers’ final-play 24-22 win over the Houston Texans. A couple of sublime touchdown passes. A few throws that surely had coach Matt LaFleur’s heart in his throat. And with the game on the line, a poised drive in the last 1 minute, 44 seconds that set up kicker Brandon McManus for a comfortable 45-yard field goal that won the game as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
“I feel like he’s still figuring it out,” said Josh Jacobs, the sixth-year running back who’s new to the Packers this season. “I think he has all the potential to be the guy in this league. Obviously, we have the utmost confidence in him as a team, and even when he makes those (bad) plays you don’t ever see us trip out about it because we know he’s going to come down and make another play. We trust him.”
Jordan Love's last 2-minute chance ended with interception vs. 49ers
It’s worth remembering that the last time Love was in a similar game-ending setting was the divisional round of the playoffs in the Packers’ loss at San Francisco last season. Needing a field goal to tie, that 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, last season Love had three true 2-minute chances to tie or win games and all ended with interceptions: a risky deep shot at Las Vegas that was intercepted in the end zone with 44 seconds to play in a four-point game; a final-play throw from Pittsburgh’s 16 that was intercepted at the 2; and the horrendous interception in the 49ers game.
To be fair, those weren’t the only late-game chances Love had last year. He took the Packers to a game-winning touchdown in the last 5½ minutes against New Orleans; threw a high-risk, first-down interception on a deep shot with 1:40 left in a two-point loss at Denver; got the lead in the last 3½ minutes at the New York Giants only to watch the Packers’ defense give up a game-winning field goal in the last 1½ minutes; and led a game-winning field goal drive in the last 4:05 at Carolina.
There’s no putting too high a premium on a quarterback’s ability to come through in those settings because so many NFL games come down to that last time you get the ball. You can fairly say that coming into Sunday, Love was 0-for-3 in true 2-minute drills, and delivered scores in two of four other chances late in the game.
Sunday was the kind of hurry-up drive NFL teams practice regularly, with less than 2 minutes on the clock (1:44), the ball at their 30 and only one timeout. In practice they probably would have needed a touchdown to win, started from their 40 and had maybe 1:20 to play. On Sunday, they needed only a field goal.
With Houston dialing up blitzes on almost every play, Love went 4-for-7 for 39 yards, taking the Packers to Houston’s 26 with 3 seconds left.
After the game coach Matt LaFleur called it Love’s “superpower” to come back to lead the game-winning drive after he’d thrown two bad interceptions earlier in the day. It’s also the kind of thing that if done a few times instills great faith in a quarterback in the locker room.
“I thought he showed great poise and just the ability to lead us down in the most critical moment,” LaFleur said. “Certainly 2-minute, I don’t want to say it was an issue with us, but we’ve had some bad things happen in some of those situations. For us to come away with the win, game-winning drive in a 2-minute situation, that will give us a lot of confidence moving forward.”
Jordan Love keeps firing through eye-catching touchdowns, bad interceptions
This game very much reflected how Love has played all season. He threw three touchdown passes, including two of the eye-catching variety. He also added two interceptions to his league-leading total of eight, and it’s worth reminding that he’s atop that category despite missing two games because of an MCL injury. This from a guy who threw 11 interceptions in his first regular season as a starter in 2023 and only 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 laser that was only millimeters out of the reach of diving safety Calen Bullock. His 30-yard touch throw to the pylon to Dontayvion Wicks came on a chaotic no-huddle play where the Packers went for the quick snap so Houston couldn’t see replays on whether Love on the previous play had thrown an incompletion, as ruled on the field, or a backward pass for a fumble, as it appeared was the case.
Love’s interceptions were on a throw over the middle to Wicks that could have been picked by two Texans on the game’s first possession, and an overthrow on a crossing route to Christian Watson in the second quarter.
But Love kept firing (95.5 rating, 24-for-33 for 220 yards) even as the Packers’ offense bogged down in the second half. His game-winning drive came after he’d gone three-and-out on three straight possessions, which gave the Texans one too many chances to take the lead.
“Sometimes that is the price of doing business,” LaFleur said of the interceptions. “When you are aggressive with your play calls, things can happen.”
Said Love: “You’ve got to go out there and play it. You can’t try and not be aggressive and take checkdowns all day, you’ve got to go out there and be aggressive and go win those games. I’m going to always play the way I play and learn from the mistakes.”
It’s probably not that unusual for quarterbacks to have interception issues in their second or even third years as a starter. They’re more confident after that first season and more willing to take chances and find their limits. Brett Favre threw 24 interceptions in his second season as the Packers’ starter after throwing 13 his first. Tom Brady threw a career-high 14 in his second season starting. Ben Roethlisberger and John Elway threw a career-high 23 each in their third seasons, and Peyton Manning had 23 in his fourth.
Love is on a similar trajectory. With eight interceptions in five games, he’s on pace to throw 23 for the season. He’s also on pace for 45 touchdowns.
These trends can change over the course of the season, but it’s sure looking like Love is going to have his ups and downs. The bottom line, though, remains that the Packers are 3-2 in his five starts and 5-2 overall. It’s worth pointing out they finished 11-5 in Aaron Rodgers’ second season as starter, and 9-7 in Favre’s.
“There’s all types of ebbs and flows in a game,” defensive tackle Kenny Clark said. “(Love) kept his composure and he made plays all day. That’s our quarterback. I love it, love to see it. We’re always behind him, and he won us the game. Brought us back and got us in field goal range and won the game. Credit to him. I’m happy he’s our quarterback, for sure.”