Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur recently commented on what he thought Jordan Love’s most impressive throw of the last season was. Love threw a handful of unbelievable passes this season, but for LaFleur the one that came to mind was the touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks in the wildcard game against Dallas.
This got me thinking; do I agree with LaFleur? I mean changing the protection at the line and subsequently lofting a perfect pass off of the back foot right over the head of Stephon Gilmore to Wicks was truly incredible. I did, however, wonder which other throws from Love would be in contention. I decided that ranking a top five would be too difficult and placing any play at number one would diminish the others, so here’s six more throws in no particular order that I think absolutely defined Jordan Love’s first season as a starter – sorry if I left one of your favorites off of the list, he’s made a ton of great plays.
33 Yard TD to Jayden Reed @ Minnesota
This is a throw that always comes to mind for me. This is legitimately a perfect throw from Jordan Love. There’s no real drama to speak of, there’s not a bunch of pressure on the QB, but its a perfectly thrown TD pass to extend an early lead against a division rival late in the season. He probably didn’t need to throw this off his back foot, but it was perfectly placed anyway. Seriously, just look at the trajectory of the ball. It’s truly a thing of beauty.
35 Yard TD to Jayden Reed @ Pittsburgh
This is one of those throws that you remember because of the moment that the team overcame to get here. This was shortly after that awful stretch of games in October. It felt like the world was looking down on this Packers team, and they were down 10 points on 3rd and 16. The defense and everyone at home knew what the Packers needed here, and Love delivered a missile to his rookie wide receiver for a touchdown anyway.
I dug this play up by accident when browsing through highlights and brought it out because I feel that it gets a bit overshadowed by the fact that Green Bay ended up losing this game.
33 Yard Completion to Romeo Doubs @ Kansas City
This play still doesn’t make sense. Its 4th down, Chris Jones absolutely crashes into Love, and despite that we see a ball perfectly floated 33 yards down the field into a sea of defenders that lands in a spot where Romeo Doubs is seemingly the only one who can make the play on it.
Beating the Chiefs was a wake up call for the rest of the league, and Packers fans will always remember number 10 taking this insane shot down the field against the Super Bowl champions who, not to mention, had one of the best defenses in the NFL in 2023.
2 Yard TD to Romeo Doubs @ Dallas – Wildcard Round
This throw was truly special to witness live. Fitting the ball in THAT window to help extend the lead to a whopping 32 points in a playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys is just greatness personified. This throw was not only technically impressive, it continued an absolutely ruthless and nasty rivalry between the Packers and Cowboys where it never feels like you can score enough against the other team, even if you’ve already hung 40 points on the scoreboard.
44 Yard Completion to Jayden Reed vs. Detroit
“But the quarter should have ended!” Whatever man, this throw was special. Down by 16 late in a game where the defense is pretty much allowed to give up anything but the deep shot and… well, Jordan Love gets the deep shot. A perfect pass in stride that was ruined only by the fact that Lions CB Will Harris was just fast enough to make the tackle.
This was one of the earliest “wow” moments from Love, before people were not yet even acknowledging the skill of his young receiving core (I believe Al Michaels says “Jaylen Reed” on the call here). This is a great play that will probably be forever overshadowed by people’s poor understanding of the on-screen game clocks that we see on broadcasts.
22 Yard Completion to Romeo Doubs @ San Francisco – Divisional Round
Off-platform throws are always fun to look at, but this one was as “Rodgers-esque” as it gets. I hate the comparisons too, but there’s something about Love facing pressure from this deadly front, rolling left and threading the needle to the sideline so perfectly from an awkward position. It just evokes that feeling of “The Packers really did it again, didn’t they?” This throw, and a few others during the playoffs, left Packers fans feeling optimistic and maybe even sort of happy despite a heartbreaking playoff loss.
That throw against the 49ers felt like a good one to leave off on. It serves as a reminder that the Packers were “playing with house money,” and that the expectations are loftier this season. Jordan Love advancing to his second year as a starter with a young cast growing alongside him will surely lead to plenty of plays like these in 2024 and beyond, and Packers fans couldn’t be more excited about it.
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Zack is a college student and cheesehead from California. When he’s not in class or writing, you can find him talking about the Packers on Twitter at @Zack_Upchurch.
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