Quarterbacks can rarely hide from the spotlight. Jordan Love is no exception. Love has been thrust into the spotlight since he was drafted in the first round in April 2020.
From that day forward, he became what Aaron Rodgers would later call his replacement. After three years of sitting on the bench, Love in 2023 finally was given the keys to the franchise with the goal of proving he was the right man to continue the lineage of great quarterback play that had been set forward by his two predecessors.
Love had a bumpy start to that first season but eventually proved down the stretch that his ceiling was as high as anyone’s in the NFL. Love was excellent in the final three games of the season, all wins, catapulting Green Bay into the playoffs, where they would blow the Cowboys away before bowing out in San Francisco to the eventual NFC champions.
That was enough for the Packers to reward Love with a hefty contract extension that contained a simple message. They knew he was the one to bring the Packers back to Super Bowl glory, even as early as the 2024 season.
That season did not end in Super Bowl glory. In fact, it was disappointing for a variety of reasons. Love battled knee and groin injuries, and the Packers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Last season started with a bang but ended in disappointment, as well. Individually, Love was excellent and a potential MVP candidate until he suffered a concussion in the first half against the Bears on Dec. 20.
From a team perspective, the Packers were knocked out in the first round in embarrassing fashion against the Bears.
Looking Ahead to Jordan Love in 2026
Now, the Packers and Love are entering a pivotal season, with one major question looming over their head.
In a normal setting, any other franchise would be thrilled with what they’ve received from Love and their team over the last three years.
The Packers are not any other franchise. Streets are named after their legends. The Super Bowl trophy is named after its most legendary coach. The city is known as Titletown.
Winning nine games and bowing out in the first round of the playoffs is not going to cut it in Green Bay.
That begs the question, what is the next step for Love?
Individually, Love is excellent. There are few numbers on the surface that won’t speak highly of him. Advanced numbers, specifically EPA per play, love him.
According to Sumer Sports, Love is second in the league in EPA/play on late downs behind only San Francisco’s Brock Purdy.
2025 NFL QB Late Down EPA/play (min. 100 plays):
1. Brock Purdy (0.58)
2. Jordan Love (0.42)
3. Drake Maye (0.33)
4. Daniel Jones (0.25)
5. Josh Allen (0.20)
6. Patrick Mahomes (0.15)
7. C.J. Stroud (0.15)
8. Bo Nix (0.15)
9. Jalen Hurts (0.14)
10. Jaxson Dart (0.13) pic.twitter.com/ZG8eoN41pY— SūmerSports (@SumerSports) June 11, 2026
Since 2021, Love has the highest EPA per dropback in the postseason, according to Pro Football Network.
Highest EPA per dropback among NFL QBs in the playoffs since 2021, per TruMedia:
🎯 Jordan Love, GB (+0.25)
🎯 Patrick Mahomes, KC (+0.21)
🎯 Matthew Stafford, LAR (+0.21)
🎯 Josh Allen, BUF (+0.19)
🎯 Jared Goff, DET (+0.18)
🎯 Jayden Daniels, WAS (+0.16)
🎯 Brock Purdy, SF… pic.twitter.com/qRjoLYzi93— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) May 20, 2026
Love passes the eye test, as well, with the ability to make some eye-popping throws like the one he did during the team’s mandatory minicamp to Jayden Reed.
In his crossbody bag pic.twitter.com/hqPYXVRcw8— Green Bay Packers (@packers) June 11, 2026
So, what’s missing?
To be clear on this matter, wins and losses are often unfairly assigned to quarterbacks all the time. There are 22 players on the field on each play, and yet, in the ultimate team sport, we often shrink analysis down to analyzing just one player.
That is undeniably true.
It’s also true that quarterbacks touch the ball on every play.
Ron Wolf, the Hall of Fame general manager who traded for Brett Favre to help build a Super Bowl champion, often said that having Favre on the field “tilted” the game in his team’s favor.
“The great thing about Brett Favre was, the thing you could see at Southern Mississippi when he played, when he went on the field, the field tilted in his team’s favor,” Wolf said after Favre retired initially in 2008.
“And I would think the same thing would apply, no matter where he played in the National (Football) League. But, fortunately for me, he played for the Green Bay Packers.”
Great quarterbacks are often the great equalizers between the teams on the field. While wins and losses may not be a quarterback stat, it is also true that, more often than not, the quarterback who plays better is often on the team who wins the game.
Sometimes, that also means carrying the team out from the jaws of defeat and into the glory of victory.
Last year, the Packers had multiple examples of games they inexplicably did not win. Cleveland, Dallas, Carolina, Philadelphia and the playoff game in Chicago are examples of games the Packers should have won.
Against Cleveland, Love made one egregious mistake with an interception that set up Cleveland’s game-tying touchdown. Later in the game, to Love’s credit, he did get his team in position for a game-winning field goal that was ultimately blocked to complete a comedy-of-errors upset.
Love was excellent throughout the game the following week against the Cowboys but, like the rest of his team, too lackadaisical on what should have been a game-winning drive in overtime. Instead, the Packers were saved with 1 second remaining on the clock to be able to escape Dallas with a tie.
In the playoffs against the Bears, Love was largely excellent before a second half in which the entire offense fell apart. Love’s best throw of the night may have led to a game-winning touchdown on the final possession, but it was dropped by Jayden Reed.
Small Things Matter
Earlier in the game, however, there were small plays Love missed that could have put the game away much sooner.
On Green Bay’s final drive in the first half, Love had Christian Watson and Matthew Golden open down the field for what likely would have been a touchdown. Love chose Watson but overshot him, and the ball fell harmlessly to the Soldier Field turf.
A touchdown would have made the score 28-3 going into halftime. Instead, Brandon McManus missed a field goal, and the Packers had to settle for a 21-3 lead that turned into a disaster later in the game.
The second half had a similar situation. Green Bay’s offense ran just 11 plays in the third quarter and picked up only one first down.
On Green Bay’s second possession of the second half, Love and the offense were faced with a third-and-2 from their 45. As Love stepped up into the pocket, he had enough grass in front of him to pick up a first down with his legs.
Instead, perhaps rattled by the pressure, Love threw the ball well over Watson’s head to the sideline and the Packers were forced to punt.
That’s a small play, but perhaps a first down would have settled everything down for Green Bay’s offense.
The smallest things are often what separate winners from losers in the NFL. That’s how closely grouped together some of the best teams are.
The great players, like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, are able to make those small plays that don’t feel like a big deal in the moment but turn out massive in retrospect.
That’s the next step for Love. When everything around him is going wrong, it’s Love’s job to make them right. Be the equalizer on a given game where nobody else is playing well.
Is that fair? No, but nothing in a city named Titletown is going to be.