Jordan Love Delivering Big Plays But Big Inconsistency

Jordan Love is pushing the ball down the field more than most quarterbacks. That’s led to some big plays but also played a role in too many failed possessions.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) throws a pass during the first quarter against the Los Angeles Rams. / Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ offense has been something of an all-or-nothing unit through five games.

“Feast or famine” is how coach Matt LaFleur described it after the victory over the Rams.

Even with Jordan Love missing two games with a knee injury, the Packers and San Francisco 49ers are tied for No. 1 with 20 completions of 20-plus yards. The league median, for context, is 13.

That’s great. Big plays win games. Always have, always will.

However, consistency wins games, too, and that’s where the Packers have been faltering. They had four plays of 15-plus yards against the Rams. All of them came on their four scoring drives. That means Green Bay went 0-for-7 in scoring without a chunk gain; six of those drives gained zero or one first down.

Cutting back on penalties would help, to be sure, but finding that happy place between easy completions and big completions will be critical for the offense.

“That’s always the game you’ve got to play as a quarterback is just staying true to your reads, going through and taking what the defense is giving you, and not trying to force those big plays,” Love said on Wednesday with a home game looming on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

“Those are definitely lessons that I’ve had to learn. You’ve got to take what they give you and eventually those bigger plays will come if you keep staying true to your reads and things like that. You can’t be too trigger-happy to hunt those big plays all the time and play off what the defense is doing.”

Of 32 qualifying quarterbacks, Love’s average pass travels 9.61 yards downfield. That’s the third-longest in the NFL behind the Colts’ Anthony Richardson (12.69) and the 49ers’ Brock Purdy (10.19), according to league data.

According to Pro Football Focus, Love is 12th in the NFL with 18 passes thrown 20-plus yards downfield. Of course, he missed two games with a knee injury. His 6.0 deep attempts per game would project to 30 over five games. Bears rookie Caleb Williams has thrown a league-high 26 deep passes.

There’s been more good than bad, so it’s not as if Love needs to put his rifle right arm into its holster. According to PFF, 33 quarterbacks have thrown at least eight deep passes. Love is ninth in completion percentage (44.4), third in yards (305), seventh in yards per attempt (16.9) and sixth in passer rating (105.1).

“I’d like him to hit whatever the play calls for, whatever the defense calls for,” coach Matt LaFleur said, “and if that means to hit a checkdown, absolutely. I just want him to read each play as its own and, no matter what has happened before, either positively or negatively, take each play for its own entity, and that’s how we are always going to coach a quarterback.

“I do get that there is a time and a place where you might take a little more risk, depending on certain situations. But I think that for the most part we just want him to read each play true. I think when you might take a little bit more chances is if you are in a 2-minute situation and time is of the essence where you might be a little bit more aggressive trying to fit the ball into a tighter window potentially. But, for the most, part we want him to just read everything true.”

In some ways, the offense has devolved into the all-or-nothing attack of last year. The sporadic nature of the offense led by the first-time starter played a big role in the team’s 3-6 start.

Through nine games, Love was No. 1 in deep passing attempts but was far less accurate (34.8 percent) and efficient (two touchdowns vs. four interceptions in 2023 compared to two touchdowns and one interception in 2024).

The secret sauce will be balancing Love’s desire to push the ball down the field with the team’s need to move the chains. That’s what he did so well during the second half of last season. During Love’s first nine starts, he was third with 9.7 air yards per attempt. During Love’s final eight starts, he was 16th with 8.3 air yards per attempt.

Consistency on offense isn’t only about deep passes. Love threw only three last week against the Rams. More easy completions, fewer drops and fewer penalties all will help a talented offense get pointed in the right direction. 

“It’s so situationally dependent,” Love said. “But I’m an aggressive quarterback. I’m always trying to push the ball downfield. I believe in my arm talent and the guys around me, they’re going to make plays. But you’ve got to stay true to your reads, go through progressions, and if they’re taking stuff away, be able to find those checkdowns.

“I think that’s something I learned last year is we’d get in those third-and-long situations, I’m trying to get that first down every time instead of just taking those checkdowns and kind of playing the game and taking what the defense is giving us.”

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