Jordan Love Improvements, How Will Chiefs Attack Him?

The Kansas City Chiefs travel to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. For each team, they are looking to continue their recent momentum. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs figured some things out offensively last week. Can Kansas City continue that in Mahomes’ first career trip to Green Bay? Meanwhile, the Packers have suddenly won two in a row. But most of all, it is the other quarterback in this Sunday’s matchup, Jordan Love, who has been a major reason for Green Bay’s improvement.

Over the last month, Jordan Love has played some of the best football of his young career. The box score stats may not blow anyone away. Yet, Love is beginning to take what the defense is giving him more often. You can see a shift in his decision making, as well as his ability to win from the pocket. On the flip side, Love and the Packers will face a stingy Chiefs defense. Kansas City has not allowed more than 24 points in any game this season. And entering Week 13, the Chiefs are tied with the Dallas Cowboys with the fourth most sacks in the league (37).

What are the specific improvements that Jordan Love has made in recent weeks? Plus, how will the Chiefs defense go about attacking him, based on his recent showings? Let’s kick it off.

Love Beginning To Take Command

Jordan Love has arguably been one of the more consistent quarterbacks in the NFL over the last month. While he is not garnering major headlines currently, Green Bay is quietly back in the playoff mix in the NFC. And largely, it is Love who is leading the charge and taking command. In that last month, Love is starting to become more accurate as a passer, and this is to all areas of the field.

Over the first seven games of Love’s season, he was last in the NFL in completion percentage (58 percent). But in the last four of his games, Green Bay’s signal caller has completed 65 percent of his passes. More importantly, Jordan Love has not thrown an interception in three of his last four games. He had thrown eight interceptions across five consecutive games before the win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Beyond his accuracy improving, Love has shown more poise in the pocket. You are seeing him feel pressure much more often than he was before. Love is starting to display more consistent instincts, when it comes to maneuvering in the pocket. And quite simply, the Packers quarterback is starting to pull the trigger while staring down a pass rusher coming right at him much more routinely. That ability to take shots, but distribute the ball efficiently, is keeping Green Bay alive this season.

How Packers Are Setting Up QB For Success

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has begun to get Jordan Love in greater rhythm. The passing concepts have started to become simpler for the Utah State product. Moreover, there is a different approach to how Green Bay is attacking defenses now, compared to early in the season.

A major part of Jordan Love and his recent improvements has been the utilization of play action. While the play action pass game gives Love a few extra seconds in the pocket, it also creates easy one-on-one matchups for skill players. The Packers boast one of the youngest skill groups in the NFL. But as the season has grown deeper, names like Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and even Dontayvion Wicks have started to show up more consistently. Christian Watson is also starting to dominate weekly. With Love having the ability to attack aggressively out of play action, he is picking his poison and putting the ball in the correct spots more often.

Beyond the use of play action, Jordan Love has been more content with taking checkdowns. This has led to explosive plays with yards after the catch. Green Bay’s skill players are becoming smarter, as far as sitting down in the soft spots of zones goes. As a result, Jordan Love is executing more by making the correct decision, rather than attempting to take overaggressive shots.

Will Chiefs Bring Constant Pressure?

If history is any indication, the Chiefs are likely to test Jordan Love with constant pressure. We saw Kansas City bring heavy heat against a younger quarterback like Aidan O’Connell last week. At least early on, O’Connell stood tall and worked quickly, while his offensive line held up in the early going. Later on, Kansas City started to get home more consistently, as the Chiefs forced O’Connell into hurried throws.

If you look at the numbers entering Week 13, the Chiefs are near the top of the league in blitz rate, ranking sixth in that category. Additionally, KC is getting home most of the time, as well, currently ranking second in quarterback pressure rate. We also know that Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will bring pressure from any and all angles. There is simply no defender from any level of the defense that is limited from blitzing, to boot.

Given the recent improvements of Jordan Love in accuracy and with play action, we may see Spagnuolo and Kansas City attempt to mix coverages on the backend. Green Bay has been able to have success when attacking vertically. If the Packers continue to attempt that, the Chiefs may disguise and switch between a Cover 2 or Cover 4 look, when they are not playing man coverage against Jordan Love.