Sunday's blockbuster matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs resulted in mixed reviews for quarterback Jordan Love.
The 23-year-old signal-caller made the first start of his two-year NFL career, filling in for superstar QB Aaron Rodgers in a 13-7 loss in Kansas City.
Until Wednesday, Rodgers was expected to start the highly anticipated clash against Patrick Mahomes, but he was ruled out after testing positive for COVID-19.
Because he previously indicated he was vaccinated — but has since admitted he is not — Rodgers sparked a media firestorm after he tested positive and was immediately ruled out of the contest. Although the quarterback used the term "immunized" when asked about his status in August, the NFL does not consider that the same thing as vaccinated. Thus, Rodgers was subject to the protocols for unvaccinated players and unable to suit up Sunday.
Rodgers' absence opened the door for Love to get his first start in the NFL.
Coming into Week 9, he had a grand total of seven pass attempts in his career, all of which came in mop-up duty in a Week 1 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Taken with the 26th overall pick in 2020, a selection which the Packers traded up to acquire, Love was viewed as the heir apparent to Rodgers, who turns 38 on Dec. 2.
Rodgers kept Love pinned to the bench in 2020 with an MVP campaign, and the veteran seemed on his way to doing the same this season, despite a prolonged saga of contentiousness with the Green Bay front office in the lead-up to the season.
Sunday offered the opportunity for fans to get their first glimpse of Love in a start and assess if he has the goods to be a franchise QB. Unfortunately, Love's up-and-down performance might have left more questions than answers.
Against a defense ranked sixth-worst in points allowed and worst in yards allowed per play coming into Sunday's slate, Love completed 19 of 34 pass attempts for 190 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a 69.5 passer rating.
For much of the game, Kansas City kept the Packers off the board.
A missed field goal in the first quarter and a blocked field goal in the second represented Green Bay's best opportunities to score in the early going, but the team came up empty and trailed 10-0 heading into halftime.
The third quarter was a masterclass in offensive ineptitude from both teams.
The Packers and Chiefs exchanged punts on five straight possessions — three for the Chiefs, two for the Packers — in a forgettable stretch of football that produced a combined 79 yards.
Then a 16-play drive that started in the third and continued into the fourth culminated in a Love pass intended for Davante Adams — but intercepted by L'Jarius Sneed.
It wasn't all bad for the second-year QB, though.
Before throwing the interception on the aforementioned drive, Love found Adams to convert a fourth-and-1 and keep the drive alive.
Speaking of conversions, he did one better with 4:54 to play, hitting Allen Lazard on fourth-and-5 for a 20-yard score, marking Love's first career NFL touchdown.
If the Packers had been able to execute earlier in the game on special teams, that TD could have been enough to tie the game against the reigning AFC champions.
But that wasn't the case, and the Chiefs wound up milking the rest of the clock to secure a 13-7 victory.
As for Love, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur took the blame for his QB's struggles, as well as a shoddy offense that managed to convert just two of 12 third-down attempts.
LaFleur also said Rodgers would be the starter next week against the Seattle Seahawks, assuming he is cleared from COVID-19 protocols. That likely means another lengthy wait before Love sees the field again.
But for now, based on Sunday's outing, there is still quite a bit of work to be done if Love is to eventually fill Rodgers' shoes.
Here are some other social media reactions to Love's start:
"love" - Google News
November 08, 2021 at 08:49AM
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Jordan Love, filling in for Aaron Rodgers, does little to inspire for Green Bay Packers - FOXSports.com
"love" - Google News
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