Green Bay Packers fans have spent six weeks yelling at the offensive line, and Jordan Love has spent those same weeks making the protection problem easier to ignore. Sunday night’s 23-13 win over the Dallas Cowboys put that on a national stage, and it opened an MVP conversation the box score alone wouldn’t have started.
Love went 23 of 41 for 276 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception, and he scored on a 1-yard run. That line would have looked a lot better if his receivers had held on. Matthew Golden dropped what would have been a 43-yard touchdown, and a 26-yard score went in and out of Christian Watson’s hands in the third quarter, two of the bigger swings Sunday night.
Why Jordan Love’s MVP case holds up
Tork Mason/Green Bay Press-Gazette
Tork Mason/Green Bay Press-Gazette
FOX Sports’ Steven Ruiz made the case this week that no quarterback is more valuable right now, and his numbers hold up. Love’s quick pressure rate of 24.5% and his average time to pressure of 2.35 seconds are the worst in the NFL. Pressure like that usually turns a quarterback conservative. It hasn’t with Love, who leads the league with 15 big-time throws while pushing the ball to an average depth of 9.5 yards, according to PFF.
The aggression comes with a cost. His 11 turnover-worthy plays rank 28th among 35 qualifying quarterbacks.
He’s also doing it without a ground game. Green Bay averages 59.8 rushing yards per game, last in the league by more than 16 yards, and Josh Jacobs has been on the commissioner’s exempt list since Aug. 30. Love still ranks third in the NFL with 1,684 passing yards, with 11 touchdown passes and four interceptions. That support could finally arrive at Ford Field, where Lions coach Dan Campbell expects Jacobs to be back on the field for Week 7.
“I want to make every throw,” Love said after the win. A defense that overwhelmed Dak Prescott at Lambeau has given him the room to try. Lukas Van Ness had six pressures and a sack against Dallas, and safety Evan Williams posted an 87.5 grade, according to PFF. If Love keeps winning games like Sunday’s at 4-2 with this little help around him, the MVP ballots will have to make room for him.
More on the Green Bay Packers
- Packers’ Three-Game Win Streak Shows Matt LaFleur Has Adapted
- Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love Makes Protection Problem Easier to Ignore
- Dallas Cowboys Awaiting NFL Punishment Decision After Loss to Packers
- On Historic Pace, Packers’ Christian Watson and Matthew Golden Have Already Accomplished a Rare Feat Through Six Games
