To say Jordan Love has exceeded expectations would be an understatement. For all intents and purposes, the QB entering his rookie season was one of the best players in the NFL in yards, touchdowns and TD-INT ratio. If you like advanced stats from PFF or ESPN, you’ll love Love.However, this did not stop critics from criticizing him. His season-ending hat trick wasn’t pretty. And he threw a lot of TDs, but not as many as Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes in their MVP seasons. In fact, Love threw for 32 TDs, 11 INTs and 4,200 yards. Not a bad stat line by any means. But TDs and yards don’t tell the whole story.
The Packers are on a nine game streak and a lot of people here are disappointed. Here’s how Love compares to Mahomes, Rodgers, Lamar Jackson and more in his prime today.Here’s how Jordan Love’s breakout season compares to Patrick Mahomes’:Mahomes’ first year as a starter was not only his rookie season, but one of his best seasons by a QB. He threw for 50 TDs, 12 INTs and 5,000 yards, statistically eclipsing Tom Brady’s 2007 campaign and Peyton Manning’s 2013 campaign to have his best season.Mahomes scored nearly 50 points in 12 wins and one of four regular season losses.
Mahomes’ playoff record that season was identical to Love’s the previous season, 1-1, although the competition was slightly different. Brady barely held off a tough Mahomes to win an overtime thriller at Arrowhead. Love, meanwhile, had a very good passer rating while beating one of the Cowboy’s best defenses in the wild card game. The loss to the 49ers in the Super Bowl certainly hurt, but Love played very well through the first three quarters. Overall, Mahomes and Love had very similar postseasons in their early years, which shows that the comparison between the two is actually fair.
Here’s how Jordan Love’s breakout season compares to Lamar Jackson’s.Jackson’s first full season as a starting pitcher was also consistently impressive. While he entered the second half of the 2018 season (he helped turn the Ravens’ season around and lead them to the playoffs), the Ravens entered the 2019 season knowing Jackson was their starting QB.Statistically, it is very difficult to compare Jackson not only to current NFL QBs, but to all QBs in history. In a historic 2019 campaign, he threw for 3,500 yards and rushed for another 1,300.
With Jackson winning the unanimous MVP award, it’s not a stretch to think that Love had similar overall stats this season to Jackson in 2019. Again, the difference is really in the recording. Jackson’s Ravens won 14 games and dominated the league, beating the NFL’s best team that year. Love and Jackson both made it past the divisional round in their first seasons, and in fact, earlier this year, Love had the same number of career playoff wins as Jackson in one week.Would Love be a better playoff QB than Lamar? The bar is not too high.Here’s how Jordan Love’s rookie season compares to Joe Burrow’s rookie season.
Burrough doesn’t have a championship or an MVP yet, but there’s no denying that he’s a top-10, if not top-5, QB in the league right now. It all starts with his 2021 campaign, which was historic to say the least.Statistically, Burrow threw for 34 TDs, 14 INTs and 4,600 yards. That’s impressive enough, but Jamarr Chase’s stats that year were even more impressive in that regard. It was truly amazing how Barrow and Chase helped turn a team from the bottom of the league into a 10-win team along with a Super Bowl winner. The change really happened overnight.
The biggest difference between the two is that Love didn’t have the franchise laugh. Love added just one win to the Packers’ eight wins from a year ago, but his incredible playoff performance is a lot like Burrow’s. Just as no one gave the Bengals a chance to win the 2022 postseason, no one expected the Packers to knock off an elite Cowboys team. Both have a bright future.Here’s how Jordan Love’s breakout season compares to Aaron Rodgers’.Rodgers may not be the youngest QB on the roster, but his career accomplishments have made him the talk of the town. Plus, it’s worth comparing Rodgers’ love seasons because they will be compared until the end of his career.
Rodgers’ breakout season was very similar to Love’s, which is even more surprising considering both were behind the greatest QB of all time for three years before playing a full season . Rodgers threw for 28 TDs, 13 INTs and 4,000 yards in 2008, matching Love’s 11/32/4,000 stat line. Sure enough, some internet user posted a Spider-Man meme showing these two Packers QBs.In addition to the TD-INT ratio, Love holds the record lead over Rodgers as the 2008 Packers team won just six games. To be fair, Rodgers was facing an elite Titans team, Peyton Manning’s Colts, and a truly competitive NFC North (barring the Lions sweep).Could Love have a better career than Rodgers? It’s too early to tell, but it’s off to a good start.
