In his first four games as the starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, Jordan Love has been more than willing to push the ball downfield. In fact, he’s been quite happy to do it as well.
“I like pushing the ball downfield,” said Love recently.
Buy Packers TicketsEntering Week 5, Love ranks first among qualifying quarterbacks in average depth of target at 10.5 yards.
Love has 19 pass attempts this season of 20-plus yards, according to PFF, which are tied for the fourth-most among quarterbacks. On intermediate routes from 10 to 19 yards, Love again ranks fourth in attempts this season with 36.
For the most part, these aren’t reckless heaves downfield either. One area where Love has impressed is with his ability as a young starter to know when to push the ball downfield or fit it into a tight window and when to continue going through his progressions. However, because defenses have loaded the box and played a lot of Cover-1 against the Packers, the opportunity to push the ball downfield has been there for this offense quite often.
“I know what the completion percentage is,” said Matt LaFleur on Thursday. “Quite frankly, we’ve thrown the ball further downfield than we ever have here. We’ve taken less probably of those quick run alerts, which definitely impact your completion percentage.”
Out of 36 eligible quarterbacks, Love currently ranks 35th in completion percentage at 56.1 percent. In part, it is a bit lower because of the frequency at which he is trying to push the ball downfield, but accuracy issues on Love’s end, dropped passes by the receivers, and routes not being as precise as they should be, leading to the pass catcher being out of position, are all contributors to this as well.
Despite Love ranking in the top five in pass attempts in the deep and intermediate ranges, he ranks 29th and 25th respectively, in yards per attempt in each of those categories. Further illustrating the inconsistencies the passing game has experienced.
“I think overall he’s done a pretty good job,” said LaFleur. “Are there times when he could be a little bit better? Yea, absolutely, but that’s everybody. That’s every quarterback in this game that’s ever played. Your always going to want a throw or two back.”
With the Packers’ offense going through long periods where moving the ball has been difficult, it has often been Love’s willingness to push the ball downfield that has ultimately sparked a number of scoring drives, whether that be on a big completion or drawing a pass interference penalty that puts Green Bay in scoring position.
There’s still a balance as well that this Packers’ offense has to strike. Yes, they want to play the probabilities and if the defense is daring them to throw the ball, that’s where the opportunity lies. However, this passing game has not been anywhere near consistent enough to live off of those lower percentage plays as often they’ve been trying to do.
Whether it’s LaFleur drawing up more designed touches underneath or Love being more willing to settle for those shorter throws, it’s these type of plays that can help move the chains and give the offense some positive plays—especially when those are difficult to come by. Green Bay’s inability to move the ball on early downs has spelled doom for the offense this season.
“I think for me,” said Love, “the biggest thing I can do to help those stats is just find those completions. You talk about those deep balls downfield, and there’s a time and place, just knowing when to pull the trigger and when to check the ball down to get those positive plays, just get the sticks moving. Kind of just situational awareness. I think all those things will improve the more reps I get. The more comfortable I get.
“But like I said, it’s all learning situations. I think the completion percentage will keep going up but I’m going to keep pushing myself to keep finding those completions to get those positive plays.”
With the speed and versatility that the Packers have on offense, it’s not as if introducing a few more underneath targets will zap them of their big play ability. If drawn up and executed well, getting players like Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, and Luke Musgrave the ball in space should lead to yards after the catch potential.
Again, it all goes back to being a balance. If the opportunity is there to make a big play downfield, you want your quarterback challenging the defense. The willingness that Love has shown to air it out is a bit uncommon for a first time starting quarterback, and if done in the right situations, should be encouraged. But, on the flip side, for an offense that struggles to move the ball regularly, there’s times where simply picking up a positive play can go a long ways for this unit.
“I’ve been super impressed with every facet of his game,” said LaFleur. “How he leads us out there, whether it’s on the practice field, whether it’s in the heat of the battle. Just how he’s handled adversity and there’s no flinch to him, and I think that’s a remarkable trait. We know that there is going to be adversity throughout the course of the season, throughout the course of every game, and I just think his resiliency is a big reason why we’ve been able to battle back, like the New Orleans game, for instance, is because of his leadership and the resiliency he possesses.”
