It's never easy to lose a game in the fashion the Green Bay Packers did on Sunday. One devastating mistake can so easily flip the narrative of a team that had built up such potential for a great season.
Of course, good teams know that mistakes can't define them if they are to have any shot at reaching their goals. Instead, those mistakes are an example of fallibility, and working towards correcting them is the mark of a seasoned competitor.
That effort requires acknowledging the mistake, not ignoring it, though. Jordan Love's costly interception in the fourth quarter was a key moment that allowed the Cleveland Browns to steal the win out from under Green Bay.
Jordan Love's interception sparks tough conversation in Green Bay
Such mistakes are always ingrained in the Monday morning reactions among the top experts and analysts. ESPN's Dan Orlovsky had a tough love moment on Get Up, directed at the Packers' quarterback on where to go from here.
"Someone's got to be like, 'We've got to grow up,'" Orlovsky said. "Jordan, you got to grow up and not give that ball away, because you give them the ball, you give them the ball on a short field, you give them life and all of a sudden the game flips."
Orlovsky pointed out that Love was his preseason MVP pick, and his position was much more positive in the discussion than Damien Woody, who said he didn't trust Love in big moments. To Orlovsky's credit, he likened Love's performance this week to Josh Allen's dismal Week 1 performance against the New York Jets in 2023, where the Bills lost despite Aaron Rodgers suffering his Achilles injury.
Just as Allen has taken steps to grow beyond such performances, Orlovsky called for Love to do the same.
"For as much as I love his talent, and as much as I want to understand that offensive line got whooped, dude, you can't throw that ball in that situation," Orlovsky said.
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The comparison to Allen is the right approach, because Love has shown the capability to play at such a high level, but like the Bills quarterback in his early seasons, there's just a level of football immaturity that has to be naturally snuffed out by enduring such outcomes.
To Love's credit, of course, he did lead a would-be game-winning drive after the interception. It's not his fault that the ensuing field goal was blocked, and the Browns found a way to get into scoring position to steal the victory.
His immediate response was acceptable, even if Packers fans and those rooting for Love to take that next step would have preferred he never made the fatal mistake in the first place.