With six games left (unless you are reading this after the Chiefs at Packers game), there is still a ton to play for for the Green Bay Packers. And the season could still go either way. So, this is me predicting the Packers future and how the rest of the season could go using simple math.
I ended up extrapolating the information we have from this season’s stats to make predictions on how the season will shake out statistically. For example, let’s look at an easy one. Jordan Love:
The fact that Jordan Love has the same amount of passing yards (2,599), total touchdowns (21), & same record (5-6) as Aaron Rodgers did through the first 11 games as the #Packers starting QB is just bizarre.
— Kyle Malzhan (@KyleMalzhan) November 27, 2023
The parallels between these two careers have been truly mind boggling.
As of December 3rd, 2023, Jordan Love has 2,599 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, and ten interceptions. He is averaging 236.27 passing yards per game. However, in the first seven games, that passing yards average was 213.14 yards per game. In the last four games, his average has jumped quite a bit. Since playing the Rams, 276.75 yards per game. He has been averaging two passing touchdowns per game since then, as well as average of a half an interception per game.
Using those averages from the past four games and extending it out to the rest of the season, Love will have the following stats:
Since everyone seems to enjoy comparing Jordan Love‘s first season starting to Aaron Rodgers’ first season starting, let’s go ahead and do that. Rodgers’ stat line in 2008 was: 4,038 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. There were only 16 games back then, so let’s take his averages and add it to a “17th” game. Doing this gives him these final numbers: 4,290 passing yards, 30 passing touchdowns, and fourteen interceptions. Eerily similar if you ask me.
If you would have told me that those would be the stats for Jordan Love at the beginning of this season, I would have been stoked and definitely expected a playoff berth. And of course, that is still possible.
This one is a fairly easy thing to do using win percentage, and of course it has been made even easier using ESPN’s Playoff Machine, which can do that math for you. So, by pushing a couple of buttons on that Playoff Machine and setting it to make predictions of all of the games using win percentage, I received a win/loss total. When it came to the teams with the same win percentage, I broke the tie breaker by selecting the home team. Doing this gave the Packers a final record of 9-8.
I wasn’t done yet. Some teams have experienced critical injuries and have been losing a lot more lately compared to the beginning of the year. Because of this, I adjusted some wins and losses. After doing that the final record was: 10-7.
Obviously, it’s an any given Sunday league so this won’t be exactly right. That being said, I do feel like this is pretty accurate.
Using the same method I used for predicting Jordan Love’s stats, let’s figure out how a few others’ final stats on the season might look:
There’s a lot of season left and these numbers are just projections. So take all of this with a grain of salt. The Packers may have started out kind of rough, but they have righted the ship and by the end of this season we will be saying that the season was a success. Look for them to be competitive from here on out.
Go Pack Go!
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