Rob Demovsky, ESPN Personnel Editor
Matt LaFleur wasn’t getting to let a few miscues by way of Jordan Love break what he noticed over the presen two months: a tender quarterback who proved to be a significance alternative for Aaron Rodgers.
Love’s two interceptions — together with the backbreaker generation seeking to govern a game-tying or game-winning pressure within the ultimate tiny of Saturday’s 24-21 NFC divisional playoff loss on the San Francisco 49ers — will linger in everybody’s thoughts, Love’s integrated, for the shorten time period.
But if LaFleur, his training group of workers, common supervisor Brian Gutekunst and the remains of the Packers’ entrance workplace take a look at issues from a ten,000-foot view, what they most likely will see is what LaFleur mentioned nearest the loss.
“He’s had an outstanding season,” LaFleur mentioned. “I know it didn’t end the way we wanted it to. I couldn’t be more proud of just who he is as a man, first and foremost, as a leader of this team. I know this one’s going to hurt him. I’m sure he’ll be really hard on himself. He’s just got to use it as fuel to continue to get better.
“However I believe you noticed such a lot expansion during the process the season, no longer handiest from simply his skill to progress in the market and play games constant profitable soccer, but additionally I believe he grew as a pacesetter. And I believe that’s very notable, clearly, to be the franchise quarterback that I be expecting him to be for an extended age round right here.”
The Packers couldn’t say that evidently 2½ months in the past. At 2-5 in early November, Gutekunst mentioned he wanted more time to evaluate Love and was hoping the overall stretch of the season would solution any questions.
“I think we’ve got 10 games left,” Gutekunst mentioned. “These are going to be a very important 10 games.”
At that time, Love ranked extreme in of entirety charge (57.7%) a number of the 32 qualifying quarterbacks, and the Packers have been twenty fifth in general yards consistent with tournament and twenty first in passing yards consistent with tournament.
Issues started to appear up simply two weeks nearest. From the Life 11 win over the Chargers to the tip of the familiar season, Love threw 18 touchdowns and only one interception generation finishing 70.3% of his passes. He received the NFC’s Offensive Participant of the Life for each and every of the overall two video games, victories the Packers needed to have to complete 9-8 and assemble the playoffs.
If the remains of the league hadn’t spotted at that time, they did within the wild-card spherical towards the Cowboys — Love threw for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns within the 48-32 win.
Regardless of two touchdowns towards the 49ers, Love’s accuracy dipped and his two interceptions have been paying homage to errors he made throughout the early portion of the season.
Prominent 21-14 overdue within the 3rd quarter, Love threw top and in the back of tight finish Tucker Kraft, who attempted to get a hand at the ball however deflected it proper to linebacker Dre Greenlaw. His 2nd interception was once the devastating misspen to this tournament. On first ailing from his personal 36 backyard layout with 52 seconds left, Love rolled to his proper to shop for age and upcoming threw off his again foundation, throughout his frame and over the center of the ground, the place Greenlaw had a very simple select.
Love admitted later on that the whole lot he did on that play games got into quarterback tutor Tom Clements’ checklist of mortal sins for a passer.
“It’ll sting for a while,” Love mentioned. “Watching all the games going forward, it will sting just knowing that we had an opportunity to win and we dropped the ball on that one. It’ll sting for a while, but we’ll be able to look back on it and see some good things we did.
“Clearly throughout the offseason, seeking to paintings at the issues we didn’t do as neatly and the issues we want to recover at. However for sure getting to get to it and assault it, however it’ll sting for a generation.”
In some ways, Love is already ahead of where Rodgers and Brett Favre were at this point in their careers as starters. Neither made the playoffs in his first season as the starter. Rodgers didn’t win a playoff game until his third season as the starter — when he and the Packers won Super Bowl XLV.
“We were given us a stunning quarterback,” operating again Aaron Jones mentioned. “He’s proven it over 21 weeks. I believe he’s simply getting to proceed to recover with the reps he will get. His age with the fellows up entrance, it’s my activity to assemble his activity more straightforward as neatly. He’s an actual trade in quarterback.”
