Without being in the meeting rooms each and every day, it’s impossible to know if Jordan Love is missing too many throws, receivers are running imprecise routes, pressure is affecting longer developing plays, or some combination of all three factors. But it’s clear the Green Bay Packers must get better throwing the ball down the field coming out of the bye week.
Through five games, Love has completed only 6-of-24 passes thrown over 20 yards in the air, per PFF. His deep completion percentage is the fourth-worst among qualifying quarterbacks, while his 18 deep incompletions/interceptions are tied for the most. His 36.3 passer rating on throws over 20 yards is the worst in the NFL.
No one is throwing the ball further downfield. Love’s 24 throws over 20 yards in the air have an average depth of target of 33.4 yards, the highest among quarterbacks.
Love has also been under pressure on 10 of his 24 attempts. The 10 pressured deep throws are the third-most.
Love is sometimes generating big plays with an attacking, downfield mindset (six completions averaging 42.4 yards), but he’s also creating a lot of empty plays and turnover-worthy moments. His four “turnover-worthy plays” on throws over 20 yards are the third-most, per PFF.
Former Packers quarterback JT O’Sullivan runs “The QB School,” a social media platform based around evaluating the tape of quarterbacks around the league. In his Week 5 video breaking down Love’s performance against the Raiders, O’Sullivan believed “erratic” ball placement on deep balls was mostly to blame.
In Las Vegas, Love completed just 1-of-5 passes thrown over 20 yards, and the one completion came on a busted coverage.
Jordan Love, deep passing in 2023
| Cmp | Att | Yards | TD/INT | Pressured | |
| Week 1 at CHI | 1 | 3 | 37 | 0/0 | 1/3 |
| Week 2 at ATL | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/0 | 1/2 |
| Week 3 vs. NO | 2 | 9 | 60 | 0/1 | 5/9 |
| Week 4 vs. DET | 2 | 3 | 79 | 0/0 | 1/3 |
| Week 5 at LV | 1 | 5 | 77 | 0/1 | 2/5 |
| Totals | 6 | 24 | 253 | 0/2 | 10/24 |
Accuracy to all parts of the field has been an issue for Love through five games. Fixing downfield accuracy might be the toughest of all considering the overall difficulty and all the factors that go into completing a pass 20 or more yards down the field. Love has to throw an accurate ball that either leads the receiver to open field or away from a defender in coverage. The receiver needs to run a good route, create separation and be on the same page in terms of spacing and angles as the quarterback. Matt LaFleur suggested some of the Packers receivers are losing speed or acceleration when turning to find the ball on deep throws. Up front, the offensive line has to hold up for a half-second longer or more. If any one thing goes wrong, the play is likely to end up an incompletion or worse.
It’s possible the return of Christian Watson and Aaron Jones as full-time players will provide a remedy. Watson’s speed — when he’s 100 percent — is a game-changing asset. He and Love were close to creating a few explosive plays against the Raiders and it’s fair to assume their connection will get better with on-field game experience together. Jones, the team’s best offensive weapon, should help the play-action passing game which often contributes to big plays. Teams are going to focus on Jones and force Love to beat them with his arm, a smart plan given what the Packers have put on tape through five games. If nothing else, Jones should help provide somewhat easier avenues of attacking downfield.
But everyone involved must get more consistent and execute the details better. Love’s accuracy down the field might never be elite, but the Packers can hit more deep shots if Love gets fractionally better, receivers are more precise on vertical routes and the offensive line keeps pressure off Love. It’s a lot to ask of a young football team. But the Packers can’t improve in a meaningful way on offense until the deep passing game becomes a more consistent weapon.
