Packers QB Jordan Love describes his two key passes on 93-yard scoring drive

Taking a closer look at a few key passes from Jordan Love against the Patriots.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love played three series against New England, completing 5-of-8 passes for 83 yards with a touchdown and a passer rating of 137.0. His performance featured a 93-yard scoring drive, with two impressive passes from Love that he took us through in his post-game press conference.

Compared to the two joint practices earlier in the week, Love said that the Patriots’ defense wasn’t showing as much of their actual scheme during the preseason game, where they disguised coverages, blitzed, and moved around personnel, but this secondary was very sticky in coverage, forcing Love to make throws into tight windows.

“I think it was great,” said Love about the joint practices. “Any time you get a (joint) practice, I think it’s good and I think these guys do a really good job of mixing their coverages, doing man, and they do have some sticky coverage, and they do a good job up front with some twists, things like that, so I think it’s very valuable reps.

“Obviously in practice versus a preseason game you get to see a little bit more of their defense, more of their scheme come out, so I think it’s all valuable stuff and obviously practice is a little bit more free. You can try new things, experiment, and it’s great reps to learn from.”

The start for Love and the Packers’ offense, as a whole, was a bit slow, which isn’t uncommon from what we’ve seen this summer. Through the first two series, there was a botched snap that resulted in a fumble, and Love was just 3-for-6 for 23 yards.

However, as has also been the case, Love and the offense settled in. As he had done during Wednesday’s joint practice, where Love found the most success, he went through his progressions and, for the most part, took what the New England defense gave him, being sure to take care of the ball. We also saw three really impressive throws from him, two of which occurred on the long scoring drive, and the other was a third-down completion into a tight window during the second series.

Those throws on that 93-yard scoring drive helped showcase the upside that Love has demonstrated throughout training camp. Of course, there are going to be growing pains for Love and the offense this season, but when he flashes, he has really flashed. Here is a closer look at those two throws on the long scoring drive, along with some insight into this third-down completion on the second series to Romeo Doubs from Packer Report’s Dusty Evely.

Scenario: 2nd-and-9 from the Green Bay 8-yard line

Backed up in their own territory, Doubs ran a go-route down the right sideline against man coverage. The defender was positioned well, forcing to Doubs towards the sideline. Doubs had about half a step, however, and it was a well-placed ball by Love and a very good contested catch by Doubs, who was able to get both feet in bounds for a 41 yard gain.

“I think just where the defender, the way he played it, Romeo was trying to get back outside of him,” said Love, “and he kind of just walled him to the sideline. Obviously you can throw it a little bit more inside, but I don’t know if he (Doubs) would have been able to get to it with the way the DB was kind of just walling him on the sideline. But like I said, he made a great catch just
getting his toes in bounds right there.” (on if that throw was where he wanted it) “I think that ball was where I wanted it. When it came out of my hand,
I thought it might be a little underthrown, but it was able to get to where I wanted it.”

Scenario: 2nd-and-5 at the New England 19-yard line

After the completion to Doubs, Love would scramble for 11 yards with an additional 15 added on for an unnecessary roughness penalty by New England. AJ Dillon would then run the ball for five yards setting up the 19-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed, who was lined up to the right side of the formation and ran a crossing route.

“It was a great route by ‘J Reed,’ what we call a through route,” said Love. “It was man coverage, it was sticky coverage, but he won inside. It was pretty much just running away from the DB. There was a backer that kind of out in front of him, so I just held on to it for a little bit, let him just continue to run
through that second window and he made a great play at the end, just being able to bounce off that DB and get in the end zone, so it was a great rip by him.”

Scenario: 3rd-and-7  at Green Bay’s own 38-yard line

After fumbling on the first series, the Packers’ offense was staring a three-and-out in the face. However, Love was able to connect with Doubs for a 10-yard gain to move the chains. According to Evely, the concept that the Packers ran on that play was first utilized when Love made an appearance in Philadelphia last season and was ran a few times in that game alone. On the right side of the field, where Doubs was aligned, the inside target runs a curl route to “pin down the slot,” as Evely put it. Then Doubs, the outside receiver in the formation, runs a dig route, taking him inside, where he has man coverage and an opening in the middle of the field to work in.

New England defended the play well, with the cornerback all over the play. But it was a well-placed ball by Love and another contested catch by Doubs.

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