Packers QB Jordan Love’s Clutch Play Shows Potential Greatness

GREEN BAY Wis. – Good quarterbacks put up numbers because they have the athletic DNA necessary to make all the throws. Great quarterbacks win games because they also have the clutch gene.

Fifteen games into his first season as the Green Bay Packers’ starting quarterback, it’s too early to definitively state Jordan Love is destined for greatness. But, after three early-season failures, Love enters Sunday night’s must-win showdown at the Minnesota Vikings with three game-winning drives under his belt.

“You guys have seen some of the development that he’s taken on and he puts so much work into it,” coach Matt LaFleur said this week. “I always think that is one of the great markers of a quarterback is are they able to take a team down when you need it the most, and he’s been able to do that multiple times this year.”

Four quarterbacks this season have four game-winning drives. Love would have joined that group had the defense not coughed up the game at the Giants three weeks ago.

In a season filled with comparisons, the numbers are fascinating in Love’s first season in place of the Hall of Fame-bound Aaron Rodgers.

In the fourth quarter this season, Love has completed only 51.9 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns vs. six interceptions. Of 32 quarterbacks with at least 60 fourth-quarter passing attempts, Love’s 71.8 rating ranks 28th.

In the fourth quarter of his debut season as the starter in 2008, Rodgers completed 60.8 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns vs. five interceptions. Of 31 quarterbacks with at least 60 fourth-quarter passing attempts, Rodgers’ 87.8 rating ranked 11th.

And yet, Love has the Packers in the playoff race with a 7-8 record. The 2008 team finished 6-10 because it crashed and burned with one close-game loss after another down the stretch.

Rodgers statistically was one of the better quarterbacks in the league in 2008. However, in games decided by four or fewer points during the second half of the season, Green Bay went 0-6. When trailing by seven points or less in the fourth quarter, Rodgers completed 51.4 percent of his passes with two touchdowns vs. four interceptions for a 58.2 rating.

Meanwhile, starting with the Week 10 victory over the Chargers, the Love-led Packers are 4-1 in one-score games.

During training camp, LaFleur had the Packers run a 2-minute drill almost every day. To LaFleur, it was the best practice-field measuring stick available.

During the first half of the season, Love stumbled rather spectacularly in those game-winning opportunities in road contests against the Falcons, Raiders and Broncos. During the second half of the season, however, he’s led the Packers to the winning points against the Chargers and Panthers.

Including the Week 3 win vs. the Saints, Love has as many game-winning drives as Rodgers did through his first 28 starts. In one-score games, Love this year is 5-5 while Rodgers, playing with a more experienced supporting cast, was 4-10 in his first two seasons.

“Early on,” LaFleur said. “we were in a couple of those situations where we didn’t get it done. For us to see the growth [has been impressive]. Said it many times, it’s not just him. It’s the collective. It’s all the guys out there making plays for him, him making better throws, better decisions, getting us in the right looks.”

The Packers needed Love in a big way at Carolina. Two consecutive three-and-outs by the offense and a meltdown by the defense turned a 30-16 lead into a 30-30 tie. The Packers absolutely, positively needed a score.

“The vibe in the huddle was everyone was confident,” Love said. “Everyone believed that we had the ball and we were going to go down and put the points up and help our defense out in a situation where we had to go score. We all knew how we were moving the ball early in that game. Obviously, we got into a funk with a couple three-and-outs, but everyone in the huddle was confident. Nobody flinched.”

Why? Having lost every bit of momentum, the Packers could have gone four-and-out, like at Atlanta. Love could have made the crushing mistake, like he did at Las Vegas and Denver.

Instead, on third down, he threw a perfect deep ball to Romeo Doubs, who made a leaping catch and held on for a gain of 36. Next, he hit Tucker Kraft on a tight-window throw that Kraft turned into a gain of 20 to set up a chip-shot field goal.

“We didn’t lose any confidence, even with some of those negative plays, three-and-outs, things like that,” Love said. “We know what type of offense we are, we know what we’re capable of when everyone’s executing at a high level and hitting on those plays. So, I don’t think anybody flinched. Nobody batted an eye or lost confidence. We were all confident knowing if we just play our ball, we were going to go put up those points.”

Over the last six games, Love in the fourth quarter has completed 54.8 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Of 33 quarterbacks with at least 30 fourth-quarter passing attempts during that span, Love’s 91.3 rating ranks 16th. The rating isn’t great, thanks to a lot of incompletions, but he’s fifth in first downs.

Of course, a few game-winning drives isn’t a guarantee of anything, just like Rodgers’ early struggles didn’t guarantee a career filled with late-game failures. Of the quarterbacks with a league-high four game-winning drives this year, one is the Falcons’ Desmond Ridder.

But with the Packers facing two must-win games that could go down to the wire, the Love-led offense is brimming with confidence.

“It’s high, man,” Doubs said of the team’s late-game confidence. “We rep it all the time, so when we get in those moments, in the heat of the moment, it’s expected that we play good football. I have confidence, we all have confidence.”