Don’t let one of the most insane throws of Jordan Love’s NFL career get lost in Thursday night’s disappointing 34-31 defeat to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
The throw didn’t result in a touchdown, and it went down in the box score as nothing more than a completion to Christian Watson for 29 yards. But to see the play is to understand the difficulty and greatness of the full sequence from the Green Bay Packers quarterback.
The situation: 2nd-and-14 from Green Bay’s 26-yard line, 7:57 to go in the fourth quarter, Packers trailing 31-28.
Here’s the video from the end zone angle:
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The Lions brought linebacker Jack Campbell on a blitz through the A-gap, and Campbell cleanly beat running back Josh Jacobs and had a free run at Love in the pocket. In danger of taking a back-breaking sack in a huge spot, Love stepped to his left and ducked his right shoulder under Campbell, momentarily evading the pressure and buying a second of time. Instead of attempting to escape the pocket and run, Love reset his feet and somehow delivered a perfectly layered and accurate throw to Watson despite being hit or pressured from both his front and back. And this wasn’t an easy throw — first-round pick Terrion Arnold was running stride for stride with Watson in single coverage, and the window to fit in the throw was maybe the size of a cereal box. But Love got it past the out-stretched arms and Arnold, giving Watson to a chance to create a big play on a drive that ended up tying the game at 31.
Had Love been sacked, the game might’ve been over. The Packers would have been facing third-and-forever and likely would have punted the ball back to the Lions with around seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. And it wouldn’t have been too surprising if Campbell — a first-round linebacker — got Love wrapped up and to the ground for the sack given his path to the quarterback on the blitz.
Instead, Love’s evasive maneuvering and incredible completion under pressure turned a negative play into an explosive gain, and the Packers had 1st-and-10 from the Lions’ 45.
This play will be easy to forget given the fact it wasn’t a scoring play and the Packers eventually lost the game. But it should be remembered. In fact, one could argue — given the situation and difficulty of the play overall — that this now represents one of the very best plays of Love’s career so far.
Despite a slow start, Love ended up completing 12 of 20 passes for 206 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 10.3 yards per attempt, didn’t have a turnover and finished with a passer rating of 111.7 and a season-best QBR of 92.4.
