Comparing Jordan Love’s First Nine Games to Aaron Rodgers in 2008

The careers of Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love followed many parallels. That continued with Week 10 losses in 2008 and 2023.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – As he made his ninth start as the Green Bay Packers’ full-time starting quarterback at Pittsburgh on Sunday, Jordan Love had a chance rally the team to a victory over the Steelers. He failed.

In 2008, with Aaron Rodgers making his ninth start in place of Brett Favre, he had a chance to rally the team to a victory at the Minnesota Vikings. He failed.

There have been a lot of similarities between the starts of the careers of Love and Rodgers. Those include waiting three years on the bench behind a legend, to getting their chance following the trade of a legend and, as first-year starters, their inability to come through in the clutch.

In do-or-die final drives in road games, Love:

- Threw four consecutive incompletions at Atlanta.

- Threw an end-zone interception at Las Vegas.

- Threw an interception at Denver.

- Threw an end-zone interception – and then another interception – at Pittsburgh.

“Yeah, it’s very frustrating,” Love said. “We’ve been put in this situation a lot of times and we have not found a way to win it. So, yeah, it is frustrating but we’ve just got to find a way, dig deeper.

“It comes down to so many different plays throughout the course of the game that we can execute better and take advantage of some of those situations, and I don’t even think we’ll put ourselves in this situation at the end of the game. Yeah, we’ve definitely got to find a way.”

Trailing 23-19 with 5:14 to go, Love’s first chance to win the game started with a 28-yard downfield shot to Luke Musgrave and a 32-yard catch-and-run by Dontayvion Wicks. On second-and-9 from the 14, the Packers tried to beat Patrick Peterson on a double move but Love underthrew Christian Watson. Peterson’s deflection was intercepted by Keanu Neal.

Jordan Love goes lefty on the late-game throwaway :: Photo by Philip G. Pavely/USA Today Sports Images

“I thought I was able to get Christian over the top and I was trying to put the ball over the top where only he can get it and the DB was able to make a good play, get a hand on it, tip it up,” Love said.

There wasn’t much Watson could do. It was “two against one” on the play, he said, leaving little room for Love to fit the ball.

“As soon as I looked up, the ball was there,” he said.

Trailing 23-19 with 59 seconds to go, Love was given another chance. On the first play, he hit Jayden Reed for 46 yards.

“I was trying to throw the ball more downfield and I got hit on it so the ball drifted left,” Love said. “I don’t know if the safety was able to see where the ball was at but J-Reed made a great play tracking the ball down, making a catch and, obviously, getting out of bounds right there. That was a huge start to the drive.”

Who knows what would have happened had Aaron Jones not gotten tackled inbounds on a 0-yard catch, but that drained about half the remaining 51 seconds. From the 16 with 3 seconds to go, Love was intercepted again.

It was a devastating ending for what might have been a triumphant performance by Love, who threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes and finished the day with 289 yards. The rookie trio of Reed, Wicks and Musgrave accounted for 10 receptions for 199 yards. They had the six longest passing plays.

“I definitely like the direction we’re headed on offense,” Love said.

In 2008 at Minnesota, Adrian Peterson’s 29-yard touchdown run gave the Vikings a 28-27 lead with 2:22 remaining.

Starting from the 41, Rodgers needed to drive the offense into field-goal range. A 19-yard pass to Donald Driver moved the ball to the Vikings’ 40, but then-coach Mike McCarthy got conservative. Two runs by Ryan Grant and a short pass to Driver set up Mason Crosby for a 52-yard field goal, which was blocked.

While Love had one of his better days, Rodgers had one of his worst. He was 15-of-26 for just 142 yards. He was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone for one safety and sacked in the end zone by Jared Allen for another safety. The only reason why the Packers had a prayer of winning is because Nick Collins returned an interception for a touchdown and Will Blackmon returned a punt for a touchdown in a two-minute span in the third quarter.

The loss at Minnesota sent those Packers to 4-5. Three of the losses were by three, three and one points.

The loss at Pittsburgh sent these Packers to 3-6. Four of the losses have been by one, four, two and four points.

Packers QB Jordan Love at Pittsburgh on Sunday :: Photo by Philip G. Pavely/USA Today Sports Images

Jordan Love Through Game 9

Week 1, at Chicago (win): 15-of-27 passing, 245 yards, three touchdowns vs. zero interceptions, 123.2 rating.

Week 2, at Atlanta (loss): 14-of-25 passing, 151 yards, three touchdowns vs. zero interceptions, 113.5 rating.

Week 3, New Orleans (win): 22-of-44 passing, 259 yards, one touchdown vs. one interception, 66.4 rating.

Week 4, Detroit (loss): 23-of-36 passing, 246 yards, one touchdown vs. two interceptions, 69.9 rating.

Week 5, Las Vegas (loss): 16-of-30 passing, 182 yards, zero touchdowns vs. three interceptions, 32.2 rating.

Week 6, bye.

Week 7, Denver (loss): 21-of-31 passing, 180 yards, two touchdowns vs. one interception, 90.8 rating.

Week 8, Minnesota (loss): 24-of-41 passing, 229 yards, one touchdown vs. one interception, 72.1 rating.

Week 9, L.A. Rams (win): 20-of-26 passing, 228 yards, one touchdown vs. zero interceptions, 115.5 rating.

Week 10, Pittsburgh (loss): 21-of-40 passing, 289 yards, two touchdowns vs. two interceptions, 71.8 rating.

Total: 176-of-300 passing (58.7 percent), 2,009 yards, 14 touchdowns vs. 10 interceptions, 80.5 rating.

Aaron Rodgers Through Game 9

Week 1, Minnesota (win): 18-of-22 passing, 178 yards, one touchdown vs. zero interceptions, 115.5 rating.

Week 2, at Detroit (win): 24-of-38 passing, 328 yards, three touchdowns vs. zero interceptions, 117.0 rating.

Week 3, Dallas (loss): 22-of-39 passing, 290 yards, zero touchdowns vs. zero interceptions, 80.1 rating.

Week 4, Tampa Bay (loss): 14-of-27 passing, 165 yards, two touchdowns vs. three interceptions, 55.9 rating.

Week 5, Atlanta (loss): 25-of-37 passing, 313 yards, three touchdowns vs. one interception, 109.4 rating.

Week 6, Seattle (win): 21-of-30 passing, 208 yards, two touchdowns vs. zero interceptions, 111.5 rating.

Week 7, Indianapolis (win): 21-of-28 passing, 186 yards, one touchdown vs. zero interceptions, 104.2 rating.

Week 8: Bye

Week 9, Tennessee (loss): 22-of-41 passing, 314 yards, one touchdown vs. one interception, 76.7 rating.

Week 10, Minnesota (loss): 15-of-26 passing for 142 yards, zero touchdowns vs. zero interceptions, 72.9 rating.

Total: 182-of-288 passing (63.2 percent), 2,124 yards, 13 touchdowns vs. five interceptions, 93.3 rating.