Jordan Love Wins NFC Player of the Week Again
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jordan Love became the first Green Bay Packers player to win back-to-back NFC Offensive Player of the Week awards since …
Aaron Rodgers? No.
Brett Favre? No.
Aaron Jones or Davante Adams? No and no.
Rather, since receiver Don Beebe.
After winning the award for the big Week 17 win at Minnesota, Love did it again by guiding the Packers past the Bears in a must-win Week 18 game at Lambeau Field. With the season on the line, Love completed 27-of-32 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns.
He dominated one of the best defenses in the NFL – the Bears were No. 1 in interceptions for the season and No. 1 in points allowed over the previous five weeks – while playing without his two veteran receivers.
The back-to-back wins over the Vikings and Bears capped a stellar second half of the season for Love. In his final eight games, he ranked first in yards, second in touchdowns and passer rating, and third in completion percentage.
Sixteen quarterbacks threw at least 10 touchdown passes during the final eight games. Love threw only one interception; none of the others had less than three.
It was an about-face for Love, who was part of a four-game losing streak and finished the first half of the season with the lowest completion percentage in the NFL.
“It was tough,” Love said. “We went on a stretch where we just weren’t finding ways to win. We were in a lot of really close games and we just couldn’t get over that hump. It was really tough, but no one blinked.
“No one was crying about losing. We found ways to get better. Obviously, I think the main thing was we’ve just got to find ways to win those close games. That’s what we’ve been able to do. I think that’s the mentality – just finding ways to win. Because we know it’s not going to be easy.”
Among quarterbacks in Packers history, Rodgers won 18 Player of the Week awards, followed by Favre with 12 and Don Majkowski with two. Love is the first quarterback to win Player of the Week honors since the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts last year.
Love finished second in the NFL with 32 touchdown passes. Only his counterpart on Sunday, the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott (36), had more.
