Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff Writer January 14, 2024, 11:01 p.m. ET
Close
- Rob Demovsky is an NFL reporter for ESPN covering the Green Bay Packers. He has covered the Packers since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2013. Demovsky was twice named Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year by the NSSA. You can follow him on Twitter at @RobDemovsky.
ARLINGTON, Texas – If the goal of the regular season was to find out whether Jordan Love is the Green Bay Packers' quarterback of the future, then this postseason might be about how quickly he can lead them to the Super Bowl.
Based on Sunday's NFC wild card playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys, it could come sooner than everyone expected. After Sunday's surprising 48-32 win over the No. 2 seed in the NFC at AT&T Stadium, Love left his coach and teammates alike in awe.
“Man, Jordan Love, wow,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “That's about all I can say: 'Wow.' What he's done and the poise he's shown, the command he's shown… It just shows the development he's had since his first start against KC [in 2021] now. Just so proud and happy for him. He's a guy. He's a real guy.
In total, Love threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. When it looked like he was done for the day after his third touchdown pass – a 3-yard sidearm toss to Romeo Doubs that gave the Packers a 48-16 lead with 10:23 to play – he had the maximum passer rating of 158.3. The score dropped to 157.2 after two incompletions when he returned after the Cowboys had gotten within 16 points.
Editor favorites
2 relatives
With an overall QBR of 99.3, he became the first player to post a QBR of 99 in a playoff game since ESPN introduced the metric in 2006, surpassing Josh Allen's 98.8 in a wild card game in 2021.
“We believed in him from the beginning,” said running back Aaron Jones, who scored nine touchdowns in four career games against the Cowboys on Sunday. “We know it’s a process. It’s not just him.”
It wasn't all love on Sunday either. The defense helped with interceptions by Jaire Alexander and Darnell Savage, who returned it 64 yards for a touchdown, giving the Packers a 27-0 start. Jones had another huge game with 118 rushing yards to go and his three scores. Doubs caught six passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. Dontayvion Wicks and Luke Musgrave also caught touchdown passes, and the offensive line kept Love relatively clean, with no sacks and only three quarterback hits allowed.
Speaking of the offensive line, the five up front perhaps had the best view of the whole thing. Consider what center Josh Myers said about the fourth-down touchdown pass to Doubs.
“I didn't even celebrate because I just stood there with my hands on my hips and watched [right guard Jon] “Runyan, like I couldn’t believe the throw I just saw,” Myers said. “I don't know what he looked like on TV, but it was one of the craziest throws I've ever seen in my life, and I've seen a lot of crazy people.
Runyan, who entered the NFL in the same draft class as Love, called Sunday's playoff performance simply a continuation of the final eight games of the regular season, when Love threw 18 touchdowns and just one interception.
“Especially as a first-year starter, it’s unbelievable how much he’s developed,” Runyan said. “He’s really just starting to blossom. He is feeling well. This is his offense. His team. We'll just ride him and he'll take us to where this team can go. Just keep going, keep pushing and keep going to San Francisco now.”
Love's next assignment is the top-seeded 49ers. According to ESPN BET, the Packers were 9-point underdogs in the divisional round.
But before Love looked forward, she took a moment to take it all in.
“Oh yeah, it feels great,” he said. “I try to hide a smile. There's a party going on in the locker room. It feels great. That’s really all I can say.”