MVP, MVP: Packers Quarterback Jordan Love In Thick Of MVP Chase
· Yahoo Sports
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is one of the frontrunners for MVP after shining against the New England Patriots Sunday.
Getty Images“MVP. MVP.”
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As Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love exited Gillette Stadium Sunday evening, the remaining fans in Foxboro told Love what they thought of him.
“Man, it’s awesome,” Love said of the ‘MVP’ chants. “It’s definitely a very cool feeling to be able to hear fans chanting that.”
Those fans are certainly onto something.
Love had arguably the finest game of his NFL career and propelled the Packers to a 45-27 rout of New England, the defending AFC champions.
Love was magnificent against the Patriots, throwing three touchdown passes and running for a fourth score. Love finished the game 23 for 29 for 372 yards and posted a 153.2 passer rating.
Love threw a 5-yard touchdown to Matthew Golden, had a 10-yard TD strike to Savion Williams and a 39-yard scoring strike to Watson. Love also began his day with a 13-yard touchdown run and later added a two-point conversion run.
The Packers have had a legendarily awful running game this season. The offensive line has been a mess. Green Bay’s wide receivers lead the league in drops. The Packers have one of the league’s worst kickers. And Green Bay entered Sunday with the second-most penalties in football.
But Love has put the Packers on his back, is in the middle of a career year, and helped Green Bay improve to 6-3 following its rout of the Patriots.
“Can’t ask for much more,” said Watson, who had seven receptions for 171 yards and a touchdown. “At the beginning of the year when we were going through not being the team that we wanted to be, (Love) was still doing everything that he could to play his best ball and doing everything he could.
“To see him continue to stay even keeled throughout this season, whether it was a positive or a negative, you can’t ask for a much better leader or much better quarterback or much better driver of this offense throughout the season.”
Golden, who had 10 receptions for 164 yards and a TD, agreed with Watson.
“Phenomenal,” Golden said of Love’s play. “Just being able to play with a guy like that is a blessing. Obviously a lot of work had to get put in to get where we are now. It all goes back to OTAs and training camp man. Just seeing the way he’s playing right now, it gets us going as receivers just being able to play with a guy like that, we kind of feed off that. Whenever he’s going, we all going.”
Love’s play against New England left veteran guard Laken Tomlinson searching high and low for the right words to describe Love’s play.
“I can’t find the right word to use,” the 34-year-old Tomlinson said. “I feel like saying that he’s balling is an understatement. It’s amazing, I can’t find the words. It’s great having someone like that to block for. Whenever you look up and see those throws you know they’re going to get completed.”
Love entered the day eighth in the MVP odds at DraftKings at +2800. By the time he was done carving up the Patriots, he had jumped to fifth at +700.
Love went 11-of-11 for 170 yards and a touchdown when New England blitzed. When the Patriots brought either three or four rushers, Love picked them apart, as well.
Love leads the NFL with 2,618 passing yards. He’s third in the league with 19 touchdown passes and his passer rating is 97.9.
What’s been amazing about Love’s year is he’s excelled while so much around him has failed.
The run game. The offensive line. The drops. The kicker, etc., etc.
They’ve all been disastrous.
Thanks in large part to Love, though, the Packers have won five of six games and their offense is averaging 28.6 points over the last five games.
“Oh my goodness,” Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs said of Love. “I don’t want to say nothing and like put no like caption out there or no like kinda thing to pressure on him, but he’s hoopin’, man. Just lookin’ around, I don’t see a lot of guys playing like him right now, just putting up the numbers consistently. Not even just the numbers, but just winning — big plays in critical moments.
“I be tryin’ to tell people sometimes it’s hard to like, when you blocking for him because you just witnessing, like, greatness. We was talking about it and I think he is right now. Hopefully he keeps continuing it up and everybody feel the same way.”
The Packers have had five players in their history win MVP awards, including quarterbacks Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers won MVPs in 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2021. Favre became the first player in NFL history to win three straight MVPs, doing so from 1995-1997. Starr (1966), running back Paul Hornung (1961) and running back Jim Taylor (1962) also won MVPs.
Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow are the current MVP co-favorites at +235. San Francisco’s Brock Purdy (+500) and Chicago’s Caleb Williams (+600) are third and fourth, respectively, followed by Love (+700) and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence (+800).
There’s still half a season to go, and a lot will undoubtedly change between now and early January. After Love’s memorable day in New England, though, those ‘MVP’ chants could prove prophetic.
“Man, it’s definitely up there,” Love said when asked if that was the best game of his career. “It felt great, you know. Just a real fun game to be a part of … when everything’s flowing, we’re putting up points and everybody’s making plays. It’s definitely very fun to be a part of.”
This article was originally published on Forbes.com