Getty Jordan Love, Packers quarterback
Around the NFL and even among Green Bay Packers fans and observers, there may have been some wavering when it comes to the commitment to having Jordan Love remain the team’s quarterback of the future, but in the locker room, that commitment has remained rock solid.
That’s the sentiment from running back A.J. Dillon following the Packers’ stirring upset win over the Lions on Thanksgiving. Dillon said he was committed to Jordan Love at the outset of the year, and remains a Jordan Love guy now. In fact, he offered a bit of a warning to the rest of the NFL now that it appears Love has some confidence rolling.
“He was phenomenal all game long,” Dillon said in the locker room on Thursday. “I keep saying, week after week, even before we played, back in OTAs, I told you guys, he’s special. I told you I’ll run through a wall for the guy and that hasn’t changed at all. He controls the locker room, he controls the huddle. Guys respect him. You know what you’re gonna get from him every day when he’s in the huddle. He’s a great player and when you see him get that confidence, watch out.”
Jordan Love-Christian Watson Pairing Finally Clicks
Certainly, Jordan Love was the big story on Thursday, putting forward his best game as a pro, completing 22 of his 32 passes for 268 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions or sacks. He added 39 yards rushing, including an impressive 37-yard scramble, and had a career-best 125.5 passer rating.
Most impressive when it came to Love’s Thanksgiving performance was his aggressiveness. On the first play from scrimmage, Love took a shot over the middle to wide receiver Christian Watson. The pass was actually underthrown but Watson did a brilliant job controlling his body and making the play for a 53-yard gain. That set a tone for the afternoon.
It was especially encouraging for the Watson-Love pairing, which has gotten off to a rough start. There have been as many questions about Watson as No. 1 receiver as there have about Love as a No. 1 quarterback. Watson was averaging just 36.7 yards per game and throws going his way were successful just 40.5% of the time
On Thursday, though, he had five catches on seven targets, with 94 yards and a touchdown.
“I think (Jordan Love) is just proving all of us right,” Watson said at his locker after the game. “We’ve seen what he’s capable of doing since the moment he got the starting job. Obviously, we knew that there was going to be some adversity we were going to face but he obviously just keeps chugging along. I think he has a bright future.”
Christian Watson on Jordan Love: “I think he’s just proving all of us right.”
Packers Playoff Chances Have Doubled
The Packers now are 5-6, with three wins in their last four games and an increasingly decent chance to make the playoffs here in 2023, something that would have seemed impossible a month ago. According to the New York Times playoff calculator, the Packers and Jordan Love now have a 51% chance of earning a spot in the postseason. That’s up from 23% five weeks ago.
Love said on Thursday that the team is playing with a new energy lately.
“It definitely feels different,” Love said in his press conference Thursday. “It is just part of the process though. We are taking it week by week, focusing on what we can do throughout the week to get better, focusing on what we can improve on. We’re going out there, practicing really hard during the week and obviously you see the growth, it’s starting to show every week.”