On paper, Jordan Love's performance in Week 12 in the Green Bay Packers' 38-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers looked good. He completed 13-of-23 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns with a passer rating of 107.7.
Those are numbers much closer to the explosive and dangerous Love we saw at the end of last season when he led the Packers to the playoffs. Most important for Green Bay, he didn't throw a pick against the 49ers.
To that point, he had thrown at least one interception in every game he's played in 2024. Even with the "clean" game against the 49ers, he still is tied for the second-most interceptions in the league with Patrick Mahomes (11). Unlike Mahomes, though, he's missed two games this season.
Interceptions have been a problem for Love, so head coach Matt LaFleur had to have been ecstatic about the fact that his quarterback protected the football.
Except, if you actually watched the game, you'd know that wasn't really the case. The box score doesn't tell the whole story because Love threw two passes that were in the hands of 49ers' defenders, which should have been interceptions if San Francisco had been able to capitalize.
He also threw an interception on a free play when he was targeting the end zone, but that's not something that should be held against Love because quarterbacks are taught to "go for broke" in those instances.
So yes, Love played his first "clean" game of the season, but he's far from "there" yet. There's still another level we know he can reach because he proved that to us in the second half of the 2023 season when he had an 18-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
There are still throws he'd like back and bad decisions that could have cost his team.
Still, he has had two games in a row where he's looked healthy, for one, and much more confident in his throws. We'll see if he can make it three in a row when the Miami Dolphins come to town to take on the Packers at Lambeau Field on Thanksgiving night.
