While the season did not end as any Packers player, coach or fan wanted, Green Bay may have gotten the next best thing, as it looks like the next franchise quarterback has emerged.
Coming into the season, the Green Bay Packers were faced with more questions and a bigger mystery than any season over the past 30 years. Aaron Rodgers left, no receiver had more than one year experience and nobody knew what Matt LaFleur’s offense really looked like.
The lack of play from the starters in the preseason didn’t seem to affect the Packers’ offense too much, as it opened its season with an 18-point victory over the Chicago Bears. In that game, quarterback Jordan Love looked like a seasoned veteran, as he threw for 245 yards and three touchdowns.
After the Bears victory though, things turned sour for Green Bay. The Packers dropped five out of their next six games and were struggling to score points in the first half. In fact, Green Bay was only able to muster just one touchdown in the first half between its second and eighth games of the season.
“Their ability to stay together when a lot of stuff was hitting the fan, I couldn’t be more proud than to be able to stand in front of that group,” said Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. “It is a special group, and I think that it is a young group that has a lot of promise for the future.”
Coming into its ninth game of the season, Green Bay was matched up against a Matthew Stafford-less Los Angeles Rams team. That is when Love and the offense got hot. From the Rams game forward, Love passed for 26 touchdowns, while adding just five interceptions. In each of those games, Love threw for 215 yards or more, until the NFC Divisional round lost to the San Francisco 49ers.
“I think he had an outstanding season,” said LaFleur, on Love. “I know it didn’t end the way we wanted it to. I couldn’t be more proud of just who he is as a man, first and foremost, as a leader of this team.”
Along with the late season emergence of Love came the late season emergence of a slew of rookie and second-year players. For the majority of the second half of the season, Green Bay was without Aaron Jones, Christian Watson and Luke Musgrave. That allowed players like Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Tucker Kraft, Bo Melton and Dontayvion Wicks to make names for themselves.
Love immediately found success using his new weapons as Green Bay ripped off three straight wins to sneak into the playoffs. What may be even more impressive, in regards to Love and the offense on that run, was that it came at the same time of complaints about the defense and Joe Barry and as whole.
“I think just understanding where to go with the ball, seeing the defense a little better and being able to see pressures and things like that,” said Love, on where he improved most down the stretch of the season. “So I think just overall just understanding what the defense was going to do to us and where I need to go with the ball is where I improved.”
As has been stated numerous times before, this was supposed to be a “wait-and-see-what-we-have” season, but it quickly turned into a playoff run. What made it even more interesting for Packers fans, was that it came with no expectations. It was simply a matter of a young team getting hot and playing loose to showcase what can be expected in the future.
While it may seem like a statistical impossibility based on NFL history, it looks like Green Bay may have its third straight franchise quarterback.
In his first year as the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, Love finished with 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns. Both are marks that would qualify for the best quarterback season in Chicago Bears history.
What makes Love’s season even more impressive is that it came as a result of not having a receiver total more than 800 receiving yards. He didn’t have a Davante Adams or Jordy Nelson like Rodgers did. He didn’t have a Donald Driver or Sterling Sharpe like Brett Favre did. But, with Reed and Kraft, Love put together the 12th best season in Packers history in regards to passing yards.
“I think (Love) grew as a leader, and I think that is very important to be the franchise quarterback that I expect him to be for a long time around here,” said LaFleur. “I love working with him. I think that is a special room.”
While it is obvious that there is a lot to fix, the good news is that Love is just 25 years old and made it to the final eight in the NFL in his first year. On top of that, given the lack of production from quarterbacks in the NFC, it appears that Love is already one of the better players at the position in the conference.
The next question for Love though is how much money he is due to receive. This past offseason, Love was given a one-year extension off of his rookie deal. That is set to expire at the end of next season. His performance this season should warrant a major extension that may not make Love the highest paid quarterback ever but should make him the de facto leader of the Packers for years to come.
Once Love is signed, the next step will be surrounding him with the talent necessary to get over the hump. With the stellar play of the weapons this year, it seems that the Packers have already hit some of the strides needed to achieve that goal.
“That was the message in the locker room with all of our talks – guys were just stepping up saying how motivated they are to attack the offseason now,” said Love. “Who knows what the group will look like next year, but everyone is definitely motivated to get back at it next season.”
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