It's Time to Take Jordan Love Seriously as Packers Franchise QB After Win over Chiefs

When it comes to quarterback play over the past quarter-century, no franchise's fans have been more spoiled than the Green Bay Packers. Brett Favre gave way to Aaron Rodgers. The team was a perennial contender and won a pair of Super Bowls.

Following the Aaron Rodgers trade, the team turned the page again under center, this time handing the keys to the franchise over to Rodgers' hand-picked successor in Jordan Love. Love spent three seasons waiting his turn to be Green Bay's starting quarterback, and early in his third season it appeared that Green Bay's long streak of quality quarterback play was in jeopardy. Love was struggling, and Green Bay lost five of its first seven games.

However, starting with a blowout win over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 9, a switch appeared to flip. Love started playing more efficiently and with more confidence. Most importantly, the Packers started winning. And now, after knocking off the Kansas City Chiefs 27-19 in a game in which Love outplayed Patrick Mahomes, the Packers are back at .500 and in the thick of the NFC Wild Card hunt.

The Pack is back—and it's Jordan Love's team now.

Over the past month. Love's level of play has improved by leaps and bounds. Against the Chiefs, he was 25-of-36 for 267 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 118.6. He was in complete control of Green Bay's offense. He found the open receivers and made plays when he had to, including a pair of touchdown strikes to young wideout Christian Watson.

It marked the third straight game in which Love threw multiple touchdown passes without an interception and posted a triple-digit passer rating.

While speaking to reporters after Green Bay's Thanksgiving win over the Detroit Lions, running back A.J. Dillon said that Love has taken command of the offense.

"Jordan's got all of this confidence," Dillon said. "He's getting experience and we've got guys that really want to play for him and trust him and I think he's a great leader of men. He's proving that he's a great quarterback and his story is not close to being written yet. He's just in the intro pages or the acknowledgements or the dedication, whatever you call those. He's just got to figure out who he's dedicating this book to."

Offensive lineman Jon Runyan echoed those sentiments.

"He gives off this confidence that everybody kind of feels in the huddle, relaxes everybody and everybody just goes out there and plays freely," Runyan said. "Plays that weren't really hitting earlier in the season, things are really starting to develop and everything's starting to hit its stride. It feels really good to have him back there, feeling comfortable and driving traffic."

For Love's part, it was just a matter of getting reps. Playing football. While he learned a lot watching one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game ply his trade, sometimes the best way to learn is by doing.

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"I feel like it's just comfort, being comfortable in the pocket," Love said. "Obviously getting more reps, more reps, being comfortable with my reads, understanding what the defense is doing, where I need to go with the ball and just growing and learning (from) every rep I get and obviously learning from mistakes, learning from the good plays. But I think it's just comfort."

Even the quarterback Love faced off against Monday night allowed that he sees Love growing more and more comfortable as he gains experience.

"Jordan has gotten better and better, every single game," Mahomes told reporters ahead of Monday's matchup. "He's always had the talent, but when you get more and more reps—I mean, he didn't play for three years basically—so he's gotten more and more reps, you can see how much more comfortable he's getting."

We're watching Love come into his own with each passing game. His increasing comfort is palpable. Love isn't bailing on plays at the first sign of trouble. He isn't forcing passes or making poor decisions with the ball. He's running the offense. Making plays. Trusting his receivers. And putting the Packers in position to win games.

Of course, those receivers deserve a measure of the credit, too. Green Bay's wide receiver room is very young, but it's also very talented. After scoring twice against the Chiefs, Christian Watson has found the end zone in three straight games. Romeo Doubs caught two long passes to keep drives alive against Kansas City. Rookie Jayden Reed has been a threat both as a runner and a receiver. And Love has developed a comfort level with all of them.

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The Packers have weathered adversity, as well. Watson appeared to re-aggravate the hamstring injury that cost him time earlier in the season, but Green Bay has the depth to weather that storm. With running back Aaron Jones on the shelf, A.J. Dillon has stepped up to carry the ground game.

Mind you, Green Bay's hot streak isn't coming against tomato cans, either. In Week 12, the Packers went into a raucous Ford Field and beat a Lions team that had lost twice all season long. Then the Packers followed that up by taking care of the defending Super Bowl champions. If the season ended today, the Packers would head to San Francisco to take on the 49ers in the Wild Card Round.

Had you mentioned "Packers" and "playoffs" in the same sentence a month ago, you'd have been scoffed at with extra eye-rolling. But not only are Love's Packers in the hunt, but they got there beating some of the league's best teams.

Now, there's still a way to go before that postseason begins. Green Bay still has a Week 17 rematch with the Minnesota Vikings looming—a Vikings team that beat Green Bay by two touchdowns at Lambeau in Week 8. But those Vikings had Kirk Cousins. And those Packers didn't have this Jordan Love.

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That matchup with Minnesota is also the only game the Pack has left with a team that is .500 or better—the New York Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears are all beatable teams. Most are very beatable.

If Love keeps playing at the level he did Sunday night. The Packers will continue their recent surge right into the postseason tournament. They will be the kind of team that higher seeds want no part of—the kind that has already shown it can play giant-killer quite well.

And when (that's right, no if—when) Love leads the Packers into the playoffs, there can be no question…

He may not be Favre or Rodgers yet, but Love is Green Bay's franchise quarterback.