How the Packers’ line has keyed Jordan Love’s ascent, offense’s improvement

Packers quarterback Jordan Love, preparing to take the snap from center Josh Myers during the second

half, has been sacked just 12 times over the past 10 games.

GREEN BAY: The security hasn’t always been faultless. Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur will agree on

that.

Love’s exceptional quarterbacking in the second half of the season, which culminated in a near-flawless

performance in the Green Bay Packers’ 48-32 NFC wild card victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday,

was undoubtedly the product of a number of factors, beginning with his own leaps-and-bounds

improvement. Love completed 16 of 21 passes (76.2%) for 272 yards with three touchdowns and no

interceptions, good for a 157.2 passer rating.

But with all that has gone right for the seventh-seeded Packers en route to Saturday night’s NFC

divisional playoff matchup with the No. 1-seeded San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara,

California, perhaps the most underrated is the way a struggling offensive line has coalesced into an in-

sync unit that has been keeping Love out of harm’s way despite a gauntlet of top-level pass rushers.

“It’s been a big reason why he’s been able to do what he’s been able to do,” said LaFleur, the team’s fifth-

year coach and offensive play-caller, said of Love. “One thing we always talk about is, ‘It’s hard to throw

when you’re on your back.’”

And Love is spending a lot less time on his.

How one play demonstrated the “evolution of his abilities” for Packers quarterback Jordan Love

After taking 18 sacks in the season’s first eight games, Love has only taken on 12 sacks in the last ten

games, which included Sunday’s victory against the Cowboys.

Love has only been sacked twice in the team’s last four games, all of which have ended in victories: a 33-

30 victory against Carolina on December 24, a 33-10 victory at Minnesota on December 31, a 17-9 victory

over the Chicago Bears in the regular-season finale, and Sunday’s victory over the Cowboys.