In addition to being pleased by Jordan Love, Packers great Brett Favre thinks the 25-year-old has the potential to beat Aaron Rodgers, Bart Starr, and even himself to become the best quarterback in Green Bay history.
After the Packers’ season-ending 24-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, in which the fourth-year player threw a nasty interception to linebacker Dre Greenlaw, Favre shared a message with Love on X.
Favre commented on X, “Great game, tough loss for my Packers.” ‘We are incredibly proud of you and can’t wait to see what the future brings,’ I’m sure I speak for all of the Packer supporters.’ Plenty to be happy about.
Then, Favre gave Love some advice, saying, “Jordan, keep your chin up. I think you can be the best Packer QB yet.”
Despite being regarded as one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, Favre—who won a Super Bowl—has had a barrage of bad press following his involvement in a welfare scheme back in his home state of Mississippi. In addition to not being charged in the case, Favre has returned the $1.1 million he was paid by a nonprofit organization that misused public assistance funds for speaking fees. Shad, the state auditor, claims he is still in debt $228,000 in interest.
Love’s first season as the starting quarterback for the Green Bay Packers went well overall, but it ended in disappointment.
In an attempt to extend its season, Green Bay attempted a late-game drive when Love threw his second interception of the game. However, the Packers blew a lead in the fourth quarter and lost 24-21 to the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round on Saturday night.
Love remarked, “It’ll hurt for a while.” It will hurt to watch all the upcoming games knowing that we had a chance to win and we failed to take advantage of it. Although it will hurt for a while, we will be able to reflect on it and be proud of the things we accomplished.
During his first season in lieu of Rodgers, Love accomplished a great deal. He assisted the Packers (10-9) in overcoming a 2–5 season opening loss to secure a postseason berth. After that, he led Green Bay to victory against the top-seeded 49ers last week with a three-touchdown effort in a wild-card victory at Dallas.
In the first two drives of the second half, Love completed touchdown passes to put the Packers ahead. Midway through the third quarter, he led Green Bay to a 21-14 lead after throwing a 19-yard pass to Bo Melton to make it 13-7. He then added a 2-yard pass to Tyler Kraft and a 2-point conversion to Aaron Jones.
In nine or so games, Love finished with 23 touchdown passes and just one interception thanks to that, but his streak of ball security ended at an inopportune moment.
In order to set up a field goal by the 49ers, he threw his first interception since December 11 and went three and out on the following drive.
Green Bay gained scoring position after a lengthy run by Aaron Jones, but the team faltered and rookie Anders Carlson missed a 41-yard field goal, his 12th missed attempt in the previous 12 games.
With 1:07 remaining, Green Bay’s defense allowed the Niners to drive for the game’s winning touchdown. Love’s second interception put an end to any hope of a comeback.
“The play collapsed, stumbling to the right, I saw Christian (Watson) in the middle, and I tried to push one in,” Love remarked. I didn’t realize the other side and assumed I could pull off the play. They put on a fantastic play.
Love has shown a lot this season, which gives the Packers hope that he will be a capable quarterback to replace Rodgers and Favre.
Love was Aaron Rodgers’ backup for the first three seasons of his career, but a strong second half of the season allowed him to throw for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns this season.
“I believe he’s had an incredible season,” head coach Matt LaFleur remarked. I am aware that the outcome wasn’t what we had hoped for. First and foremost, as the team leader, I couldn’t be more proud of the man he is. This one will hurt him, I’m sure of it. He’ll be very critical of himself, I’m sure. All he needs to do is turn it into motivation to keep improving.
Even if Love’s errors ultimately proved costly, the Packers had a number of other problems. Two possible interceptions were thrown away, four drives inside San Francisco’s 25 resulted in just six points, Carlson missed a field goal, and the defense gave up the late touchdown.
For the Packers, it meant missing out on the Super Bowl for a record 13 seasons in a row.
“We just didn’t do enough, and I felt like we had plenty of opportunities to put the game out of reach,” LaFluer said. Never is it just one play. There were plenty of possibilities, but I’m sure the missed field goal will play a big part in it. Return and score six points with three red zone opportunities in the first half. There were numerous plays in the area. We most likely have a different outcome at this time if one play goes differently.
