It was a rough week for the Green Bay Packers, only made worse by the fact that everyone else in the NFC North had so much fun in Week 3.
The Packers are officially the only team in the NFC North with a losing record heading into the month of October, and if they're going to get back on track, more things need fixing than simply the play of Jordan Love.
After three games this season, we're going to take a look at the state of the quarterback position in the NFC North. Even though some of the quarterbacks in this division are obviously established players, there is some volatility to lists like this during the early stages of the season that might sting a little bit, so brace yourselves: Jordan Love took a tumble down the list this week.
Let's talk it out.
NFC North QB rankings: Bears QBs on the rise as Jordan Love falls
If there is one thing that's become abundantly clear through the first three weeks of the season, it's that the Minnesota Vikings have the worst QB situation in the NFC North.
Unfortunately, they are also 3-0 and have a head-to-head win over the Packers already. So it goes in the NFL.
Kyler Murray signed to a one-year deal this offseason, and the Vikings just made it painfully obvious that they are reshuffling the deck at QB after this season, with J.J. McCarthy being traded to the New York Giants.
Even though it's still very early in the season, Murray hasn't exactly adapted perfectly to his new surroundings in Minnesota. He had an injury in Week 1 against the Packers, and the Vikings' defense was so dominant in the Week 3 win over the Bucs that Murray's 51.7 percent completion rate was overlooked.
It's hard to see this level of QB play being overly sustainable for the Vikings, but they've weathered the storm -- literally in Week 2 -- so far.
To say that Jordan Love isn't getting help from his supporting cast would be a massive understatement.
The Packers have been credited with a league-leading nine dropped passes so far this season, and they are adding as many offensive linemen as they possibly can to try to help a unit that has been embarrassingly bad through the first three games of the season.
For all of the faults of the players around him, Love also has to own his part in all of it. He's completed just 52.4 percent of his throws so far this season, and even accounting for the dropped passes, too many throws are off target.
Love's struggles can absolutely be explained right now, but everyone else will perceive it as being excused. There is only so much confidence a quarterback can play with when they don't trust the protection in front of them, and every part of their game suffers -- including accuracy.
We all know Love isn't a bad quarterback, but his supporting cast is dictating his performance right now, and others in the division have played better.
Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions are currently one of the most predictable teams in the NFL.
They have scored exactly 31 points in each of their first three games this season. They have also played horrible defense in all three.
Goff has been consistent through it all, at least in terms of the overall numbers. He's completed 70.6 percent of his passes for 802 yards and eight touchdowns. He has yet to throw an interception this season and just feels inevitable.
When you watch the Lions play, you can feel from Goff that he's missing Ben Johnson (still). It's almost like he doesn't have the final stone of his Infinity Gauntlet without Johnson calling the plays.
Here we have one of the most consistent, accurate quarterbacks in the NFL. Goff is one of the smartest players in the league at his position. He distributes the ball well. He's good enough to help the Lions win a lot of games and go deep in the playoffs. But is there a proverbial "ceiling" on his game without Johnson calling the offense?
The team in the NFC North that has gotten the best quarterback play so far this season is the Chicago Bears.
Ben Johnson is not out there throwing the passes, escaping from the pocket, running with the ball when necessary, or finding open receivers. He's not a puppeteer.
He's more of a maestro conductor in charge of a symphony orchestra, and of course it's incredibly annoying.
On Monday night, we got another example of Johnson's mastery, as Case Keenum, of all quarterbacks, was able to go out and slice up the Vic Fangio defense to the tune of 247 passing yards, two TDs, and a rushing TD to seal the win.
The second game of the season is borderline a throwaway for the Bears (and Vikings) because the weather impacted it so much, but even in that game, we saw Caleb Williams making big plays for his team.
And we all saw what this offense did at full strength in Week 1.
Whoever the Bears have thrown out there at QB has been the best in the division so far this season, and we'll see what October brings.
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