The Green Bay Packers entered their Week 4 Sunday Night Football matchup with the Dallas Cowboys fielding the league's best scoring defense and a middle-of-the-pack scoring offense.
While Jordan Love had played mistake-free football over the first 11 quarters of the season, a crucial interception in the fourth quarter of their Week 3 contest with the Cleveland Browns directly contributed to the 13-10 loss.
The 26th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft received plenty of criticism for his late-game blunder, with some fans even suggesting that the team should move on from their star quarterback. While the defense had their worst performance of the year, allowing a season-high 40 points and 436 yards, Love silenced the noise with his best performance of the season.
He threw for 337 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 72.1% completion percentage -- all of which were his best marks of the young season. The Packers star received praise for his play on Sunday Night Football, which ended in a 40-40 tie.
Jordan Love receives praise after best game of the season
Love returned to playing mostly mistake free football on Sunday as he helped keep Green Bay in the game despite a horrendous showing from the defense. Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski gave him an A for his performance, writing:
"During the Sunday Night Football shootout that ultimately led to a tie, the Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love must have looked toward the European team from this year's Ryder Cup as inspiration because his short game was on point. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Love completed a staggering 28 of 28 passes under 10 air yards, which is six more than any other quarterback without an incompletion since the start of the 2016 campaign. He spread the ball everywhere, with 10 different targets managing at least one catch. Aside from a blindside strip-sack, Love did everything he could to lift his team when the Packers defense didn't have the same stingy streak previously seen through the first three weeks. "As an offense, we've got to keep battling, keep answering, staying in the game," Love said."
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Love has been great to start the season. The Green Bay star has thrown for 1,000 yards, eight touchdowns and just one interception. He has completed 69.4% of his pass attempts while adding 62 rushing yards on 13 carries.
His +1000 odds to win MVP are the fifth-best in the league -- and the best in the NFC -- through four games. Green Bay's defense should not have many more performances as ugly as Sunday throughout the season. If Love continues to play at the level he has to begin the year, the Packers will prove to be true contenders.