Packers’ Jordan Love, Giants’ Tommy DeVito Hot Entering Monday Night
GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Oct. 29, Jordan Love averaged a season-low 5.59 yards per attempt as the Green Bay Packers lost at home to the Minnesota Vikings.
Halfway across the country, New York Giants rookie Tommy DeVito made his NFL debut in relief of injured Tyrod Taylor vs. the Jets. He completed 2-of-7 passes for minus-1 yard.
Just as everyone expected at the time, Monday night’s game between the Packers and Giants will feature two of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL.
The Packers have won three consecutive games thanks in large part to the sensational performance of Love. Of 30 quarterbacks to throw at least 50 passes since the start of Week 11, the team’s 2020 first-round pick ranks third with a 116.9 passer rating, eighth with a 68.5 percent completion rate and 7.9 yards per attempt, and second with eight touchdowns.
San Francisco’s Brock Purdy is No. 1 in rating over that span. DeVito, an undrafted rookie, is second. Having played only two games with the Giants coming off a Week 13 bye, he fashioned a 121.1 rating and ranks seventh in completion percentage (68.6), sixth in yards per attempt (8.6) and fourth in touchdown percentage (7.8) in back-to-back wins.
On Monday, coach Matt LaFleur was asked if defenses might prepare harder against Love because of his improved play. His answer spoke to the mindset for facing DeVito.
“I think you prepare the same for each opponent that you’re going into each and every game,” LaFleur said. “I don’t think somebody’s going to take him lightly. This is the NFL. So, you better prepare like you’re playing the best quarterback in the league each and every week. Otherwise, you get the potential to get embarrassed out there.”
DeVito is quite a story. He spent his first four seasons at Syracuse, missing the end of his third season with a leg injury and losing the starting job during his fourth season. He transferred to Illinois for 2022, throwing for 2,650 yards and accounting for 21 touchdowns during his redshirt senior season. Denied an additional year of eligibility that would have kept him in school in 2023, it was off to the NFL.
DeVito went undrafted and opened the season on the Giants’ practice squad before being promoted at midseason.
With Daniel Jones having suffered a season-ending knee injury and with veteran Tyrod Taylor spending the last four weeks on injured reserve, DeVito has been the primary quarterback the last four games. He’s completed passes – better than two-thirds completion rate in three of those games – and tossed seven touchdowns vs. three interceptions.
Taylor is off injured reserve but Giants coach Brian Daboll is sticking with DeVito, who led the Giants to victories of 31-19 over the Commanders and 10-7 over the Patriots in the games before the bye.
“That’s always been my mindset, even when I was a three,” DeVito said of his rise from QB3 to QB1. “It’s like your goal is to be the starter one day, even though on the outside or anybody else might not have believed that, but I’ve always been pushing to be that. I mean, I was not going to be surprised by it because, either way throughout the bye week, I was mentally prepared for it to go either way. Like I said, it was a tough decision, but I don’t make those decisions so I’m just here to play, execute, and try to win football games.”
As for Love, he will face an aggressive defense for a second consecutive week. The Chiefs are one of the most blitz-happy defenses in the NFL. According to Pro Football Focus, he was blitzed on 41 percent of his dropbacks on Sunday night and completed 12-of-16 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. Two weeks earlier against the Chargers, Love was blitzed on 60.5 percent of his dropbacks and was 16-of-24 for 156 yards.
Only the Vikings blitz more frequently than the Giants, according to Pro Football Reference.
“I think me personally, it’s just being able to see the stuff,” Love said. “I’ve gotten more reps, I’m more comfortable, understanding where I need to go with the ball. I think the O-line is doing a great job to be able to pick this stuff up. it’s not easy when they’re bringing some of these all-out blitzes, stuff like that, but they’ve been doing a great job giving me time.
“And then the receivers, obviously, they’re having awareness of when they need to be open and how long I’ve got and then just going out there and making plays. We know it’s something teams are going to bring and we’ve got to be able to execute and go out there and be able to make sure they don’t do it again.”
