While the pregame hype was centered around Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love stole the show on Sunday night while leading the Packers to a 35-25 win over the Steelers and his former teammate.
In a twist of irony, Love’s brilliant night included him tying a franchise record with Brett Favre, the Packers’ Hall of Fame quarterback whom Rodgers succeeded as Green Bay’s QB1 in 2008. During the game, Love tied Favre’s 18-year-old franchise record by completing 20 consecutive passes. Ironically, Rodgers was Favre’s teammate when Favre completed 20 straight passes during the 2007 season.
“It’s definitely special,” Love told NBC Sports afterward. “Obviously, I think we faced a little adversity in the first half and bounced back. We knew it was gonna be a hyped-up game all week going against A-Rod. Glad we came in here handled business.”
Love’s hot streak helped the Packers turn a 16-7 halftime deficit into a 35-19 lead with just under four minutes to play. He had a lot of success throwing to tight end Tucker Kraft, who caught seven passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns on National Tight Ends Day.
“We knew we just had to focus on the details,” Love said of Green Bay’s halftime adjustments. “Everybody’s got to go out there, do their job and just lock in and go out there and make the plays we weren’t making in the first half. And we did.”
They certainly did. And while it was a complete team effort, the Packers’ dominant second-half performance was keyed by Love, who finished the game with 360 yards on 29 of 37 passing while becoming the first Packers quarterback since Hall of Famer Bart Starr to get a win in Pittsburgh.
Like Rodgers and Favre, Love spent three years as Rodgers’ teammate before getting a chance to lead the Packers’ offense. But unlike Rodgers, Love led the Packers to the playoffs during his first season as the team’s QB1 that included a stunning upset win over Dallas in the NFC wild-card round.
Love and the Packers were unable to duplicate that level of success in 2024, however. While they made the playoffs, the Packers were quickly dismissed by the eventual champion Eagles in the first round. Love specifically took a step back that was largely the byproduct of injuries that started during Green Bay’s season-opening loss to the Eagles.
The 2024 season was also a rough one for Rodgers, who signed with Pittsburgh this offsason after a tumultuous two seasons with the Jets. Rodgers has found new life in Pittsburgh as he looks to cap off his future Hall of Fame career on a positive note.
Love is looking to join Rodgers, Favre and Starr as Packers quarterbacks who won the Super Bowl during their age 27 season. While he’s still a ways a way from doing that, Love helped that cause on Sunday night as the 5-1-1 Packers maintained their spot atop the NFC North.
In the process, Love tied Favre in the history books while denying Rodgers the distinction of becoming the fifth quarterback in history to defeat all 32 teams.
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