Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) led his team to a 17-9 win over Chicago Sunday and ... [+]
Twelve months ago, the Green Bay Packers faced a win-or-go-home scenario.
The outcome was rather predictable.
Aaron Rodgers, who played well in big games early in his career, had become a shell of his former self in large contests.
So when Rodgers was subpar once again, posted a pedestrian 83.1 passer rating — including a 2.8 mark in the fourth quarter — the Packers fell to visiting Detroit, 20-16, and missed the postseason.
On Sunday, Jordan Love — the man who replaced Rodgers this offseason — took the field for the biggest game of both the Packers’ season and his young life.
And Love did what Rodgers failed to do the past decade — play like an MVP when the lights were brightest.
With a playoff berth on the line once again, Love had a day to remember and led the Packers to a 17-9 win over visiting Chicago.
Love was brilliant, completing 27-of-32 passes (84.4%) for 316 yards. He threw two touchdowns, no interceptions and had a remarkable passer rating of 128.6.
The Packers improved to 9-8, earned the No. 7 seed in the NFC and will head to Dallas for a wildcard game Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
“The transition from Aaron has gone pretty smooth,” Packers outside linebacker Preston Smith said. “We all believed in Jordan Love. We knew he had the ability to take us the distance and he had the ability to help us win meaningful games — and tonight was a meaningful game.”
Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur was thrilled how Love played in this enormous game. The nearly 80,000 spectators had to feel the same.
“He’s just resilient,” LaFleur said of Love. “Those are things you cannot coach. You can sit there and talk about it ‘till you’re blue in the face. However, that’s something he possesses and I admire him for that, his ability to stay even keel, to battle through adversity, to lead our team.
“He did an outstanding job and he’s been doing it. He’s certainly proved himself over the back half of the season. I don’t think there’s many questions left, to be honest with you. He’s just got to continue to do what he’s been doing and show up each and every day with that same mindset, and I think great things are in store for him.”
By the end of last season, it was apparent great things were largely over for Rodgers when it came to big games.
Granted, Rodgers won four MVP awards, led the Packers to a Super Bowl win in 2010 and will be a first ballot Hall of Fame selection one day.
But Rodgers was pedestrian in huge games for more than a decade in Green Bay. And his shoddy performances in big moments will be the No. 1 black eye on an otherwise memorable career.
Rodgers failing to deliver in critical moments began in 2011 when he won MVP honors and led the Packers to a 15-1 regular season. In the NFC divisional playoffs, though, Rodgers was thoroughly outplayed by the New York Giants’ Eli Manning and Green Bay was throttled, 37-20.
San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick was the best quarterback on the field when the 49ers defeated the Packers in the playoffs in both 2012 and 2013. Rodgers then had a dreadful passer rating of 55.9 in the 2014 NFC Championship Game, a 28-22 overtime loss at Seattle.
Arizona’s Carson Palmer outplayed Rodgers in the 2015 NFC divisional playoffs, a 26-20 Cardinals’ win.
Rodgers led Green Bay to the NFC Championship Game in both 2016 and 2019. In each of those contests, though, Rodgers and the Packers went scoreless in the first half and eventually suffered humiliating losses to Atlanta and San Francisco.
Tom Brady and Tampa Bay got the better of Rodgers in the 2020 NFC title game, a devastating 31-26 Packers’ loss on their home field. One year later, Rodgers and Green Bay’s supposed high-powered offense went into hiding during a 13-10 loss to San Francisco in the NFC divisional playoffs.
Rodgers was then subpar in Green Bay’s loss to Detroit in the 2022 season finale, marking the third straight year the Packers’ season ended with a home loss.
In the fourth quarter of those three contests, Rodgers went a combined 10-of-24 for just 83 yards with one interception and no touchdowns. That calculates to a dreadful passer rating of 33.9.
“At some point the carousel comes to a stop and it’s time to get off,” Rodgers said after the 2022 season. “And I think you kind of know when that is. And that’s what needs to be contemplated. Is it time? Also, what’s the organization doing?”
The organization, of course, chose to move on from Rodgers and traded him to the New York Jets last April. Early returns suggest it will be one of the better decisions the franchise has ever made.
Love wrapped up a regular season Sunday in which he threw 32 touchdown passes, the second most in the NFL, and posted an impressive passer rating of 96.1. Love completed 372 of 579 passes (64.2%), threw for 4,159 yards and just 11 interceptions.
More importantly, Love took the youngest team in football, put them on his back, and led them to the postseason — a place few thought possible back in September.
Amazingly, he’s just 25 years old — 15 years younger than Rodgers.
“For him to lead us like this says a lot about him, a lot about his character and a lot about his work and a lot about the man,” Packers defensive end Kenny Clark said. “I’m excited for Jordan and happy he’s our quarterback.”
Especially after Sunday, when Love came up huge when the stakes were the highest.
“You want to play in big-time games and, when the pressure’s on, just to be able to go showcase what you’re made of,” Love said. “Definitely being on the bench for those three years and being behind Aaron and wanting to be out there so bad, now that I’ve got my opportunity, just making the most of it, taking it and running with it.”
Love has done that — and more — which is why the Packers finally shined in a huge game.
