Three years after being selected with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is finally being allowed to solidify himself as the team’s starter for the foreseeable future. He impressed mightily in his 2023 season-opening performance against the Chicago Bears.
Love was backing up former Packers legend Aaron Rodgers for his first two NFL seasons. With Rodgers now out of the picture after being traded to the New York Jets, the Packers have handed the keys to the franchise to Love. He made the most of his opportunity in Week 1 against the Bears, where the Packers won 38-20 on the road.
Despite being without his top receiving option Christian Watson, Love completed 15 of his 27 pass attempts for 245 yards and three touchdowns. Love did a great job of spreading the ball around, targeting eight different receivers and successfully connecting with six of them for two-plus receptions.
While some around the league may be surprised, no one in the Packers locker room expected anything different from Love. According to Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, “There’s a big-time belief in that locker room for Jordan Love.”
Love has sat patiently waiting for his turn and doing everything in his power to be prepared for when the moment eventually came and he proved just that. Now, the question comes of whether or not Love and the Packers can sustain this level of play throughout a 17-game regular season.
It was an impressive start to the Jordan Love era in Green Bay and it will be fascinating to see how the Packers follow up that performance when they travel to Atlanta to face the Falcons on Sunday, Sept. 17.
