The Green Bay Packers are 2-3 on the season following two frustrating losses, one to the Detroit Lions and another to the Las Vegas Raiders. In both games, starting quarterback Jordan Love experienced the bumps that Green Bay coaches predicted he would when they discussed the goal for the season during training camp.
Back then, head coach Matt LaFleur reiterated time and time again that there would be ups and downs. After all, Love is not the only first-year starter on offense. Zach Tom is starting at right tackle after being a backup lineman last year. Tucker Kraft and Luke Musgrave are both rookies at the tight end position. Rasheed Walker has been forced into starting duties after the season-ending injury to David Bakhtiari.
But in football, the primary focus is on the quarterback. Due to the offense’s struggles, there are some that believe Love should be benched in favor of rookie quarterback Sean Clifford. One of these people is Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report.
NFL Analyst Believes the Green Bay Packers Should Bench Jordan Love for Sean Clifford
In the Packers’ most recent loss to the Raiders, Love threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. In was the first time in his young career that he failed to throw a single touchdown pass.
Through five games, Love has a 55.6% completion percentage, 1,083 yards, eight touchdowns, six interceptions, and a 77.3 passer rating.
Due to his poor production, Gagnon writes in Bleacher Report that the time may be coming for the Packers to bench Love in favor of Clifford:
“Jordan Love is the league’s sixth-lowest-rated qualified passer in his first full season as a starter for a Green Bay Packers team that is 2-3. That’s not great, even though he’s displayed some game-breaking ability on occasion.
“That said, there’s at least an element of unknown worth exploring with Clifford, who was a consistent four-year starter at Penn State. If the Packers fall out of the playoff picture, they’d be unwise not to take an extended look at the alternative. That’s especially the case if Love’s numbers continue to decline, as they have since Week 2.
Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.
As mentioned previously, the Packers coaches (and many fans) knew that this season would be a transition year, meaning that there would be periods of high-level play and others of absolute bewilderment.
That being said, some have forgotten how good Love looked in Weeks One and Two, where he threw a combined six touchdown passes and no interceptions. In Week Three, he led the Packers back from 17-0 in the fourth quarter to win the game, the largest fourth quarter comeback in team history.
Of course, this does not make his play over the last two weeks any less frustrating. Rather, it proves what Packers coaches said before the season to be accurate: there will be ups and downs.
Remember, the Packers signed Love to a two-year extension that keeps with the team through next season. Benching him, in a year that is meant to help him grow, will accomplish the opposite of their goal.
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5 Comments
Clifford is obviously THE guy.
Jordan Love was a qb in a division 1 program. His passes are typically underground. The only reason that they don’t bench him is because it would make the management look idiotic for wasting a pick on Jordan Love. He doesn’t have the arm to be a starting qb in the NFL. He is a backup at best. I am sure Love is a great guy, but being a great guy does not win football games. Rodgers and Favre turned out to be despicable human beings, but they could win games. I am glad Rodgers is gone, but J. Love is not the answer.
Jesus. No qb will succeed with no running game in that offense and a revolving door OL. I am frustrated watching them but not blind. If Love sucks when they have a legitimate threat behind him in the backfield that can pop off more than 10 yards on any given run, then we can talk about him being benched.
Bench Love. He’ll never improve.
End the endless agony.
Fire Mark Murphy.
Born in Eau Claire in 1954, I was too young to enjoy the Braves run and, close to Minnesota, I was a Twins fan until (my fave) Larry Hisle went to the Brewers after 1977. It was natural for me to be a Vikings “fan” (someone gave me a Vikings sweatshirt), although I never watched football until I switched to the Pack in 1970. The Raiders loss was my last game as a die-hard Packers fan. After 17 years living in and around Houston and having to buy NFL streaming to see most games, those days are over. Thanks to Jordan Love (I’ve been singing “Love stinks, yeah, yeah” since he was drafted), I’m now a PERMANENT Houston Texans fan. And, there’s collateral damage. Next spring, when the Astros are 0-0, so long Brewers. I’m not a fair-weather fan so, just as I couldn’t switch to the Pack during the championship years, I can’t move on to the Stros until they share the same record…just as both the Packers and the Texans were 2-3 on October 15, 2023 at high noon. And I owe it ALL to one Jordan Love. (C.J. Stroud is the REAL DEAL!)