In a lot of ways quarterback Jordan Love had been a catalyst to the Packers‘ hot streak entering Sunday’s 27-25 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Love had been playing some of the most efficient football of his career, as Packers head coach Matt LaFleur revealed in recent weeks, and had strung together a five-game stretch in which he tossed eight touchdowns to zero interceptions.
However, that’s when Love and the Packers ran into the buzzsaw known as Brian Flores’ Vikings defense.
How Vikings Authored Blueprint to Stop Packers QB Jordan Love
Even though Love led a frenetic fourth-quarter comeback to bring the Packers to within two points from 17 down, Flores exposed perhaps the young quarterback’s greatest weakness and a replicable plan for defenses in future weeks to shut him down and end Green Bay’s season.
“The Packers have a fun, deep group of wide receivers but not a group full of man-beaters,” NFL analyst Dan Pizzuta writes for The 33rd Team. “If a defense feels comfortable playing man, that’s a way to go. Coming into this week, Love ranked 27th in EPA per play against man coverage (-0.08) and fourth (0.20) against zone.
“In the second half, the Vikings were more aggressive with blitzes, but Love was more prepared. But when the pressure came in the second half, it was successful.”
Minnesota is one of the more blitz-happy teams in the entire league, and Flores one of the most creative architects of exotic blitz packages that not every team is going to be able to replicate. But, the Eagles and Lions certainly have the personnel and tendency to rattle Love by sending extra pressure.
LaFleur and Love need to figure out a way to neutralize the kind of rushes Flores sent at the Packers’ quarterback, or Green Bay’s postseason trip may be cut drastically short.
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