Jordan Love authored the first fourth-quarter comeback of his career in the Green Bay Packers‘ home opener, and he did so in spectacular fashion.
If there was any doubt that Love could lead an NFL franchise, the quarterback put it to bed on Sunday, September 24, with an 18-17 victory against the New Orleans Saints. Packers linebacker De’Vondre Campbell celebrated his teammate’s success with something of an I told you so message on X, the social media website formerly known as Twitter, following the game.
“When I told everyone last year that J. Love was better than a lot of QBs in this league, everyone laughed at me and called me crazy,” Campbell wrote as a comment to a separate post. “I wonder what they think now 🤭 🤔.”
Jordan Love Produced Roughest, Best Start of NFL Career Simultaneously
GettyQuarterback Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers dives into the end zone to score a touchdown during an NFL game against the New Orleans Saints in September 2023.
What made Love’s performance even more special was that he led the comeback against one of the better defenses in the NFL, and did so without the help of his top wide receiver (Christian Watson), top running back (Aaron Jones) and starting left tackle (David Bakhtiari) — all of whom were out with injury.
Love had his toughest day passing of the season, completing just 50% of 44 throws for one touchdown and his first interception of the year. As a result, Green Bay entered the final quarter down 17-0.
However, Love turned it on in the final stanza. He led a 46-yard drive that ended in an Anders Carlson field goal to finally put the Packers on the board. Green Bay got the ball back with a little over eight minutes to play, after which Love marched the offense 80 yards in 89 seconds. He capped the drive with a one-yard TD run and a two-point conversion to wide receiver Samori Toure to cut the lead to 17-11.
With roughly five and a half minutes to play in the game, Love began another 80-yard drive. This one took nine plays and a little less than two and a half minutes, finishing with an eight-yard touchdown pass to wideout Romeo Doubs in the front right corner of the end zone.
“Feels great,” Love said of the comeback after the game. “I think we were just going two-minute mode, going a little bit faster and taking some more shots downfield. We were getting a lot of man-to-man coverage and receivers were just capitalizing on those opportunities right there and making plays for us.”
“It wasn’t perfect a lot of that game, but guys never flinched and they showed out, showed up and made plays at the end,” Love continued. “It’s very hard [to comeback from 17 points]. Especially when you haven’t done what you wanted all game, especially offensively. We hurt ourselves more than we helped ourselves. Just to be able to stay poised and stay confident in what we’re doing … but it’s not easy. It’s a total team win right there.”
Packers Players Shared Universal Praise for Jordan Love Following Comeback Victory
GettyGreen Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love communicates at the line of scrimmage before a snap during an NFL game against the Chicago Bears in September 2023.
Love’s teammates on both sides of the football lined up with praise for their quarterback following the first late-game comeback of his career, which moved the Packers to 2-1 on the season.
“He’s just a dog man,” rookie wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks said. “It just show you how great of a leader and a player he is to be poised to bring us back from 17-0. I think of him highly, as I think we all do. We wasn’t surprised. We see him do that everyday. We know what he can do.”
The defense was just as complimentary of Love as the players he was passing the ball to during the fourth quarter.
“We been believing in Buddy Love, as I call him,” outside linebacker Preston Smith said. “He been playing at a high level, man. We know what he can do. As long as we have his back and we stay consistent, he can keep us in any game. We can win any game with him as our quarterback.”
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Packers’ Campbell Gets Last Laugh After Jordan Love Comeback