Jordan Love's first season as a starter has seen enough crushing mistakes to satisfy an appetite for disaster for a year.
Lately, though, Love has been avoiding making such blunders. And he's balling.
Love has thrown eight passing touchdowns since Week 9, and just two interceptions. He's averaging eight yards per attempt, and owns a passer rating of 103.1. It should be no surprise that the Packers are 3-1 since Week 9.
"I feel like it's just comfort, being comfortable in the pocket," Love said on Wednesday, via The Associated Press. "Obviously getting more reps, more reps, being comfortable with my reads, understanding what the defense is doing, where I need to go with the ball and just growing and learning (from) every rep I get and obviously learning from mistakes, learning from the good plays."
Love's greatest weakness was his performance in key moments. He'd play well enough in most games to keep the Packers competitive, but when Green Bay needed to score late, he'd take unnecessary risks before fourth down, often turning the ball over and ending Green Bay's chances prematurely. In Weeks 1-10, he threw 10 interceptions, tied for the second-most in the NFL.
In the last month, he's corrected this tendency. He owns a perfect 5-0 TD-INT ratio in his last two games, including a three-touchdown explosion in an upset win over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.
"I think he's done a much better job of that because everybody wants to throw down the field," Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said this week. "But sometimes you've got to be calculated. It's got to be there. It's got to be the right read."
Now, after folks wondered whether Green Bay might need to find another option at quarterback, the tone has shifted to pure optimism. Love is suddenly the face of the future after introducing himself to the nation on Thanksgiving.
"It's just … something that throughout each rep I've been able to learn from, grow as a player, understand where I need to go with the ball," Love said.
Green Bay's improvement -- which has seen the Packers make an unexpected entrance into the playoff race -- will be fully tested Sunday night, when the Packers head to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the defending champion Chiefs. The last time Love took the field in Kansas City, he struggled as a green quarterback making his first career start in 2021.
He'll hope to be significantly better in a game that could go a long way toward determining whether the Packers are just on a pleasant winning streak, or are truly turning the corner.
