Jordan Love showed the NFL world what he could do with a breakout season in 2023 after sitting behind Aaron Rodgers for three years.
Despite the doubters, Love thrived with the youngest team in the NFL and got better and better as the season went on. He helped Green Bay go on a late surge in the regular season, closing out two must-win games over the Packers division rivals Vikings and Bears to secure a trip to the NFC Wildcard Round.
That is when Love’s appreciation throughout the sports world hit a whole new level.
Jordan Love led the Green Bay Packers to upset the No. 2 seeded Dallas Cowboys, a torching a defense that ranked fourth in the NFL in EPA (expected points added) per play, with 16-for-21 passing for 272 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Not bad for a quarterback in his first season as a starter.
Love finished the wild-card win with a passer rating of 157.2. Football fans will recognize that as agonizingly close to a perfect passer rating of 158.3, a rare stat line for any quarterback, let alone one competing in the playoffs.
While the Green Bay QB put together another decent performance against the San Francisco 49ers in the pouring conditions on the road in the Divisional Round, he made a rare mistake that he was known for avoiding, and threw the ball across his body over the middle of the field on the Packers final drive, resulting in the game-winning pick for the 49ers.
Still, it’s impossible to ignore what Love accomplished in hist first season as a starter.
