Jordan Love didn't need Sunday night's thumping of the Pittsburgh Steelers to validate his place in Green Bay Packers quarterback lineage, but it sure helped.
Love outdueled Aaron Rodgers, dicing up a beleaguered Steelers defense to the tune of 360 yards and three touchdowns on 29-of-37 passing.
"He's him," Packers defensive end Rashan Gary said, via ESPN. "He's him. Everybody in the league, if y'all not woke, please wake up. Get the crust out your eyes because he is him, and 10 is coming. Period."
After a rocky first half, which saw the Packers go three-and-out three times and miss two field goals to trail 16-7 at the break, Love drove a relentless comeback that allowed Green Bay to run away. The Packers scored 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points to turn a deficit into a blowout, and didn't give Rodgers even a shot to work his late-game magic.
"He's showed he's the successor," Micah Parsons said. "He's the up-and-coming. Like J-Love, talking about when I was coming here, I was like, 'I know they've got a quarterback, I know I've got a quarterback.' I'm just so proud of him, everything he's been through, how he's developed as a player, how he's developed as a person, and he's just playing some really good football right now."
The defense did its part to slow Rodgers, but the offense's ability to drive up and down the field, not punting in the second half, turned the game into a blowout.
Love finished with a 134.2 passer rating, the highest of his career. Sunday night marked the QB's fourth game with multiple passing TDs and zero INTs, the 16th such game of his career; only Patrick Mahomes has more such games (19) in their first 40 starts, per NFL Research.
Love's near-perfect outing included a streak of 20 consecutive completions stretching from the second to the fourth quarter, tied for the longest streak in a game by a Packers QB with Brett Favre (Week 12, 2007).
Setting records playing opposite Rodgers, whom Love grew under during his first three seasons in Green Bay, highlighted the quarterback's breakout campaign. The 26-year-old has been dynamic with the ball, but cut down on the turnovers that plagued him the past couple of seasons. Love is a mixture of both his predecessors -- Favre's gunslinging mentality and penchant for the big play, and Rodgers' efficiency and accuracy, especially on the move.
"The legacy that [Rodgers] left, I would say Jordan's filling those shoes," Packers tight end Tucker Kraft said. "When you're talking about the Favre to Rodgers to Love, Jordan has stepped up and fulfilled his end of the bargain."
The QB has led the 5-1-1 Packers to the top of the NFC with an offense that has rolled over opponents. Green Bay has won four games decided by two-plus possessions; only the 7-1 Indianapolis Colts have more (five). The Packers have six games this season with 27-plus points scored (only IND has more at seven).
Through 40 career starts, Love and Rodgers' stats are almost identical.
- Love: 23-16-1 W-L, 7.6 pass yds/att, 71-25 pass TD-INT, 98.4 passer rating
- Rodgers: 22-18 W-L, 7.8 pass yds/att, 70-29 pass TD-INT, 95.9 passer rating
"He played great, played fantastic," Rodgers said. "He's had a really nice season. He's been really efficient with the football. He's opportunistic, though I felt like he was very patient tonight. He took the run solutions, he took the checkdowns, moved in the pocket well. Thought he played really well."
