Jordan Love and his connection to receivers Christian Watson and Matthew Golden has been special this year.
Love leads the league in passing yards by nearly 300, while Watson and Golden are respectively third and fourth in receiving yards (879 for Watson, 783 for Golden).
Green Bay has won five of their last six games after looking dead-to-rights when the Atlanta Falcons beat them by 21 at Lambeau in Week 3. Since that game, the offensive trio of Love, Watson, and Golden have utterly carried the Packers to a 6-3 record.
Last Sunday's game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough was their best outing. Love completed 23 of 29 passes for 372 yards and scored four total touchdowns, culminating in a near-perfect passer rating of 153.2. The superstar WR duo caught 17 combined balls and had 335 combined receiving yards.
That performance thrusts Love directly into the MVP conversation, alongside quarterbacks Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, and Brock Purdy.
What separates Love from everyone else, however, is his propensity to throw the deep ball so often. With a complete lack of a running game, the Packers have put all the pressure on Love to make big plays. And he's done just that.
In the Patriots game, Love completed six of eight deep passes (20+ air yards) for 235 yards and a touchdown, per Next Gen Stats. Out of all quarterbacks to play in Week 9, Love was first in PFF Grade (94.3), Big-Time Throw Percentage (20%), Average Depth of Target (13.9 yards), EPA per play (0.79) and total EPA (27.5). Take a look at his pass chart below:
Jordan Love completed 6 of 8 deep passes (20+ air yards) for 235 yards and a touchdown in Week 9. Love completed six deep passes for the second time this season. No other quarterback in the NFL has done so in any game. #GBvsNE | #GoPackGo https://t.co/lMgscdboLl
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 9, 2026
There's a fine line between being aggressive and being reckless, and Love is certainly not the latter. While he's always looking for the deep shot, he's rarely ever forcing it. If one of his speedy receivers has a step, Love puts the ball right on the money. If everything is covered, he does a nice job working through his reads until he finds a checkdown.
He also might be the best quarterback at diagnosing blitzes and getting his protection set. While the offensive line isn't great, rarely does a rusher come in free - because of Love. And when there finally is some pressure in his face, his signature back-foot throw tends to give his receivers a chance to make a one-one-one play.
There's something respectable about a quarterback with the wherewithal to constantly test defenses, rather than always checking the ball down, and Love has that respect.
What are Jordan Love's Odds to Win MVP? - Post Week 9
Jordan Love is currently +700 on bet365 to win MVP after last week's dominant performance. He's fourth on the oddsboard, behind Burrow (+200), Allen (+225), and Purdy (+450). Lawrence closely follows behind at +850.
Last week's game was ideal tape for defensive coordinators, because the Patriots played Love the exact opposite way of how teams should defend that QB. A lack of two safeties always being deep, too many blitzes, and too many one-on-one opportunities led to the Packers scoring 45 points.
Instead of making the Packers prove they can throw the ball - which they obviously can, teams should make Green Bay prove they can run. MarShawn Lloyd has rushed for 2.6 yards per carry, Josh Jacobs is at 2.2, while Kaleb Johnson is at a more respectable 4.1.
Play a conservative two-high shell look on every play, stop blitzing, and hope the Packers beat themselves a little bit more. At least make Love work for touchdowns instead of opening the door to one-play scoring drives.
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All odds written in this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.
