Stunning Jordan Love stat explains Packers’ inconsistent offense

As Love and the Packers prepare to take on Aidan Hutchinson and the Detroit Lions’ menacing defense on Thanksgiving, veteran NFL reporter, Mike Tanier, points out that the vertical passing game has largely been grounded for Green Bay.

“Air Yards! That’s always a good Jordan Love conversation sparker,” Tanier writes of Love, for the Too Deep Zone. “He’s always playing hero ball and taking too many downfield risks.

“Let’s see … Love ranks 13th in average throw depth at 8.3 yards. Thirteenth? THIRTEENTH? Ah, but there’s a difference between average throw depth and Completed Air Yards, a Next Gen Stats figure that takes all the 50-yard heaves to nowhere out of the data. Love ranks 21st in the NFL with 5.7 Completed Air Yards! I can make chicken salad out of that. Or can I? There are lots of smaller-sample quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Carson Wentz ahead of Love in Completed Air Yards. Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes are below him. His figures are not that far below the league average.”

Love enters Thursday’s game boasting a career-best 67.7 completion percentage while passing for 2,560 yards with 15 touchdowns to just three interceptions, but the big plays have been fewer and further between for the Packers’ offense since emerging star tight end Tucker Kraft was lost for the season, with a torn ACL.

Part of the issue for Love, as Tanier points out, is that Love has been pressured 125 times this season, with Pro Football Reference charging him with 19 throwaways, which is third most in the NFL.

While Love has been outstanding at avoiding sacks, Green Bay doesn’t just need to do a far better job of protecting him but also someone in the Packers’ receiving corps needs to step up, or else this season may fail to meet the promise that Love’s ascent combined with Micah Parsons’ arrival offered back in the summer.