Near-perfect Love leaves Pack in awe in upset win

Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff WriterJan 14, 2024, 11:01 PM ET
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ARLINGTON, Texas — If the goal of the regular season was to find out whether Jordan Love was the Green Bay Packers‘ quarterback of the future, then this postseason might be about how soon he can lead them to a Super Bowl.

Based on Sunday’s NFC wild-card playoff romp over the Dallas Cowboys, it might come sooner than anyone expected. Love left his coach and teammates alike in awe after Sunday’s 48-32 upset victory over the NFC’s No. 2 seed at AT&T Stadium.

“Man, Jordan Love, wow,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “That’s about all I can say is ‘wow.’ What he did and the poise he shows, the command he shows … It just shows the growth that he’s had from his first start vs. K.C. [in 2021] to now. Just so proud and happy for him. He’s a dude. He is a real dude.”

In all, Love threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. When it appeared he was done for the day after his third touchdown pass — a 3-yard sidearm fling to Romeo Doubs that put the Packers ahead 48-16 with 10:23 to play — he had the maximum passer rating of 158.3. That dropped to 157.2 after two incompletions when he came back in after the Cowboys had pulled within 16 points.

With a Total QBR of 99.3, he became the first player to post a 99 QBR in a playoff game since ESPN began the metric in 2006, bettering Josh Allen’s 98.8 in a 2021 wild-card game.

“We believed in him from the beginning,” said running back Aaron Jones, whose three touchdowns on Sunday gave him nine in four career games against the Cowboys. “We know it’s a process. That’s not all on him.”

It wasn’t all Love on Sunday, either. The defense helped with interceptions by Jaire Alexander and Darnell Savage, who returned his 64 yards for a touchdown that made it a 27-0 start for the Packers. Jones had another massive game with 118 rushing yards to go along with his three scores. Doubs caught six passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. Dontayvion Wicks and Luke Musgrave also caught touchdown passes, and the offensive line kept Love relatively clean with no sacks and just three quarterback hits allowed.

And speaking of that offensive line, the five up front might have had the best view of it all. Consider what center Josh Myers said of the fourth-down touchdown pass to Doubs.

“I didn’t even celebrate because I was just standing there with my hands on my hips looking at [right guard Jon] Runyan like I couldn’t believe the throw I had just seen,” Myers said. “I don’t know what it looked like from the TV, but it was one of the craziest throws I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen a lot of crazy ones.”

Runyan, who came into the NFL in the same draft class as Love, called Sunday’s playoff performance just a continuation of the last eight games of the regular season, when Love threw 18 touchdowns and just one interception.

“Especially being a first-year starter, unbelievable just how much he’s grown,” Runyan said. “He’s really just starting to flourish. He feels comfortable. This is his offense. His team. We’re just going to ride him and he’s going to take us where this team can go. Just keep going, keep pushing and on to San Francisco now.”

Love’s next task is the top-seeded 49ers. The Packers opened as 9-point underdogs in the divisional round, per ESPN BET.

But before looking ahead, Love took a moment to soak it all in.

“Oh, yeah, it feels great,” he said. “I’m trying to hide some smiles. There’s a party in the locker room right now. It feels great. That’s really all I can say.”