The Green Bay Packers need Jordan Love to become the Jordan Love of the end of the 2023 season in Week 8 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Simply put, it’s time for Love to put it all together.
So far this season, he’s had one truly all-around game. That was in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinal when he completed 22-of-32 passes for 248 yards and four touchdowns (one interception) with a passer rating of 119.5. It’s not shocking that the Arizona win was Green Bay’s best of the season. The Packers took care of the Cardinals, 34-13, and looked like a Super Bowl contender in the process.
That’s not to say the Pack looked bad in their other six games. This is a 5-2 team, after all, and they are coming off a win over another Super Bowl contender, the Houston Texans.
It’s just that through seven games, this is a Packers offense that’s still clearly not all put together. Much of that is because Love was hurt at the end of Week 1 against the Eagles and he missed the next two games. Head coach Matt LaFleur had to completely remake the offense into a run-heavy scheme in order to cater to backup Malik Willis and to the Packers’ credit, they went 2-0 in those games.
From Love’s offense to Willis’ offense, back to Love’s, though, the Packers have barely had any opportunity to develop consistency.
In Love’s first game back, against the Los Angeles Rams, he was still clearly a bit hobbled.
He looked much better against the Cardinals and the expectation was that he’d keep flying against the Texans. Yes, he threw three for touchdowns and led a game-winning drive against Houston but he also threw two more interceptions. We’re about to hit November and Love has already thrown eight interceptions, when all of last season he threw just 11. He’s been underwhelming in that regard, and underwhelming is not going to get it done in an NFC North that also features the 5-1 Detroit Lions, 5-1 Minnesota Vikings, and 4-2 Chicago Bears. The Packers need Love, the potential superstar, to actually realize that potential for the rest of this season to win the North and make the playoffs. Keep in mind, in a division like this, a Wild Card spot is no guarantee either.