GREEN BAY, Wis. – Who knows if Jordan Love will win an NFL MVP or be in the Hall of Fame conversation. But on Sunday, he did what Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers failed to do by leading the Green Bay Packers to the playoffs as a first-year starter.

In 1992, Favre and the Packers lost their final game of the season to the Minnesota Vikings and fell a game short of the playoffs. In 2008, Rodgers and the Packers lost five consecutive games to fall out of the playoff race by early December.

In 2023, the Packers closed the regular season with three consecutive victories. With a 17-9 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, they are unexpected playoff participants.

Love, who was magnificent in beating the Bears, forever will be compared to Rodgers. Their histories together are just too intertwined to ignore.

In 2008, Rodgers inherited a team that reached the NFC Championship Game in 2007 and a strong group of playmakers but led the team to a 6-10 finish. Only a victory in the finale over the 0-16 Lions prevented a six-game losing streak to end the year.

In 2022, Rodgers and the Packers reloaded for one more run after falling short in NFC title games in 2020 and 2021. That team started 4-8 before riding a wave of takeaways to four consecutive wins to earn a Week 18 win-and-in showdown against the rising Detroit Lions at Lambeau. The Lions won. With the Lions and their legion of fans celebrating, Rodgers trudged off the field for the final time as a member of the Packers following a final-pass interception.