Photo by Evan Siegle - packers.com
Jordan Love vs. the Eagles - Nov. 27, 2022
Jordan Love vs. the Eagles - Nov. 27, 2022
Malik Willis deserves all of the credit he has been receiving for his short stint against the Giants while Jordan Love was in the infamous blue tent having his shoulder examined. Willis is likely the league’s best backup quarterback, and he completed both of his passes for six yards and a touchdown, while also ripping off a 16-yard run, keeping the Packers in the game. Willis is a great weapon to have, and should Jordan Love miss time, Green Bay can be confident that they won’t be out of any game.
Calling for the backup quarterback to replace the starter is a tradition as old as the league itself for NFL fans, and we saw some of that this week after Jordan Love produced an uninspiring stat line, but in this case, in the Packers’ 27-20 win over the Giants, it’s hilariously unwarranted. The fact of the matter is that even though Love completed just 13/24 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns, he secretly had one of the best games of his career, and it’s important to separate the work of Love from that of his receivers.
His receivers were, frankly, terrible. They committed at least six drops resulting in a loss of approximately 92 pre-YAC (Yards After Completion) yards, meaning his true stat line should have been at least 19/24 for 266 yards, a 79.2% completion rate, and an upgrade in yards per attempt from 7.3 to an elite 11.1. This understates what Love’s receivers cost him as drops do not just cost raw yardage, they also result in not picking up first downs, and the new set of downs that comes with it.
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High Grades
This may sound like the rantings of a biased homer, however Pro Football Focus, which grades every player on every team every week, and has no affiliation with the Packers, gave Love a 93.6 (out of 100) for this game, the single highest grade of his career. Grading is subjective, however PFF takes pains to separate the quality of play of quarterbacks (and all other players) from their receivers and their offensive lines to properly attribute credit and blame and can sometimes provide a more accurate picture than metrics alone.
Love’s brilliant play was also a necessity to generate a win on Sunday. The Giants have the worst run defense in football, and while Josh Jacobs was in the game, the Packers were consistently gaining yards on the ground. Unfortunately, the Giants play on one of the most unforgiving surfaces in the league, and Jacobs suffered a knee contusion at the start of the second quarter which knocked him from the game. It is not believed to be serious, and he should not miss much, if any time, but Emanuel Wilson was never able to get going, and so the Packers were forced to move through the air on an extremely windy day.
Love threw both of his touchdowns in the second half after a clear shift in philosophy at half time. The first, a two-yard strike to backup tight end Josh Whyle, came after Matthew Golden managed to draw a 35-yard pass interference penalty. The second, on a brilliant contested 17-yard catch by Christian Watson, follow an improvisational 33-yard bomb to rookie Savion Williams on third and ten. Love would find Emanuel Wilson for the two-point conversion for the game’s final score.
Major Injuries?
On defense, injuries also played a major role as linebacker Quay Walker was lost to an and replaced by Isaiah McDuffie. McDuffie is one of the best run defenders on the team, however he struggles in pass coverage, and the Giants picked on him on every third down, to great effect. McDuffie’s lowlight came on an accidental breakup of what would have been a Javon Bullard interception. That play was one of four drops by the defense, who did their best to match the poor hands of the offense, repeatedly letting interception-prone quarterback Jameis Winston off the hook.
Ultimately, Packer safety Evan Williams held on to an errant Winston pass with 44 seconds remaining for the team’s first pick of the day, ending the competitive part of the game, and preserving the win. The defense has struggled to create turnovers all season long, but they’ve still proven effective at limiting points and forcing punts. If the Packers can hang onto just a few more balls, or get a little bit luckier, they have the potential to be a top five defense.
The only quarterback that makes as many turnover-worthy plays as Winston is the Vikings’ JJ McCarthy, quarterback for the next opponent on the schedule. Minnesota’s defense is very good and routinely keeps them in games, but McCarthy always gives the opposing defense a chance to score points of their own. The Packers just need to hang onto the ball.
