Jordan Love played well over the first two weeks of the season, as he threw for 480 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions while completing 66.0 percent of his pass attempts. He also led the Green Bay Packers to back-to-back victories over NFC contenders, taking down the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders with relative ease.
The Packers had the look of a true contender heading into a Week 3 matchup with the Cleveland Browns, who have been good defensively but struggled to get anything going offensively. Despite having their share of offensive struggles on the day, Green Bay appeared to be on the verge of improving to 3-0, taking a 10-0 lead into the final four minutes.
Everything fell apart from that point on, however, and a crucial Love interception was pivotal to allowing the Browns to come back and win the game. The third-year starting quarterback must be better if the Packers have any hope of being true contenders.
Packers' season hinges on Jordan Love playing better than he did in Week 3
Love appeared ready to take the next step, as he had played 11 quarters of mistake-free football.
That all changed in the fourth quarter of Green Bay's epic Week 3 collapse against the Browns. After Cleveland cut the score to 10-3 with a drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock, the Packers simply needed to avoid a mistake and take more time off the clock as their opponents' offense showed no signs of being able to drive the ball down the field for a touchdown.
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Instead, on 3rd-and-three from their own 25, Love threw an errant pass that went into triple coverage -- with two of the defenders having a much easier play on the ball than his intended target, Dontayvion Wicks. Grant Delpit easily intercepted the pass and took it back to the Green Bay 5-yard line.
Two plays later, the game was tied, and the stage was set for the Browns to pull off the upset win. Love finished the day with just 183 passing yards, one touchdown, and that one costly interception, although he did complete 72.0 percent of his passes. He also struggled to move the ball downfield, according to The Athletic's Matt Schneidman.
"Jordan Love led the NFL through two weeks in air yards per target (12.5), per Next Gen Stats. As of now, he ranks last in Week 3 with 1.6 air yards per target," Schneidman wrote.
The biggest knock on Love early in his career has been his decision-making, and that, once again, came back to bite the Packers. While he did not make many mistakes on the day -- and he likely rushed the throw as he had already taken five sacks and faced a ton of pressure -- there was no need to force a pass at that stage of the game.
Green Bay's defense has been elite all season and, if nothing developed on the play, punting the ball would have been a far better option than the alternative.
Love has been better at taking care of the ball early on this season, but he must avoid timely mistakes that keep the opponent in the game. The former first-round pick will look to bounce back on Sunday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys.