ARLINGTON, Texas – Matt LaFleur delivered what might be the best comment of the year on Packers quarterback Jordan Love.
"He's a dude," LaFleur said after Love lit up the Cowboys in a 48-32 wild-card playoff victory Sunday at AT&T Stadium. "He's a real dude."
And this Packers offense is really hot, or dangerous, or explosive. Take your pick.
Love's passer rating was the max 158.3 until a late incompletion, "dropping" to 157.2 officially (16-of-21, 272 yards, three TDs).
Beyond those numbers, though, it was how unstoppable the Packers looked out there. Six of the first seven times they touched the ball, they found the end zone.
With the defense adding a score on Darnell Savage's pick-six, the 48 points were on the board with 10 minutes left in the game. That's 48 points in 50 minutes. Mercy.
It was just three months ago the Packers were struggling to get a first down in the first half of games, let alone scoring any points. Now they're scoring them seemingly at will.
"We believed in him from the beginning," running back Aaron Jones said of Love. "We know it's a process. It wasn't all on him when we couldn't pick up a first down. All 11 across the board have to be on the same page.
"We knew it would take time. You heard it from me and other players, 'We were right there, right there, right there,' and we've been able to get over that hump."
And how. All three individuals who spoke at the podium after Sunday's victory – Love, Jones and LaFleur – quickly and repeatedly praised the work of the Packers' offensive line setting the tone by establishing the run and protecting the QB.
Once that was in good shape, it turned into quite a show. Two plays (of many) really stood out.
The first one came on third-and-7 from the Dallas 20-yard line with 3½ minutes left in the first half. The Cowboys, already down 14-0, were desperate for a stop and blitzed, sending a six-man pressure against an empty backfield.
According to LaFleur's recounting of the play, Love called for tight end Tucker Kraft to help in protection. Then the quarterback stood tall, backed up just enough to buy time, and fired a laser to the goal post, which rookie Dontayvion Wicks snatched out of the air for the TD.
It was a stunning moment that put a stunning score on the board: Packers 20, Cowboys 0.
"It was an all-out look … for him to hang in there and get that throw … those are things you can't necessarily – you can try to coach it, but what a moment for him," LaFleur said.
"To me that was a big-time play. It just shows the growth he's had from his first start versus KC (in 2021) to now."
With those pass rushers in his face, Love says he's just "playing quarterback," but this isn't garden-variety stuff. The current run he's on, playing both fearlessly and almost flawlessly, has to give any defenses second thoughts about blitzing him and leaving their coverage in the back end shorthanded.
Check out photos from the NFC Wild Card playoff matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
"He's really making them think," Jones said. "From Minnesota (on New Year's Eve) on, teams who tried to pressure him, he's … not exposed them, but had a good day against them.
"We have dogs at receiver waiting to get one-on-one matchups. All we have to do up front is give Jordan a little bit of time and he'll find an open receiver."
The other especially noteworthy play came in the third quarter and was a repeat of a concept that came so close to working all the way back in Week 1 at Chicago.
At the time, rookie tight end Luke Musgrave was the back-side target off play-action, but he got his feet crossed up with the ball coming his way and couldn't score.
This time, with Musgrave returning to the lineup for just his second game following a lengthy absence due to a lacerated kidney, he was wide open again and had no trouble with the catch, or turning upfield to make it a 38-yard touchdown. It put the Packers up 41-16.
"We had a cool moment in the locker room," LaFleur said of celebrating that play. "He loves this game, and it killed him not being out there. Whether he's catching touchdowns or out there doing the dirty work run blocking … you really can say that about our whole team. There is a different energy about our team."
So much of it flows from Love, as well as from Jones, who is on the most productive binge of his career. Having battled through multiple injuries this season, Jones hitting his stride has coincided with the offense as a whole doing the same.
"It's a blessing in disguise I would say he didn't have the wear and tear throughout the course of the season," LaFleur said. "He's not the biggest guy, but pound for pound, there's not many tougher than him."
And right now, there isn't an offense hotter, more dangerous, or more explosive (take your pick) than Green Bay's.
"It just shows what we're about as a team," Love said. "We've been counted out so many times."
But not by anyone that matters to these guys.
"We believe in each other, we have faith in each other, and we have all the weapons in the building, in that room – however you want to put it – we have all the weapons we need," Jones said. "What are people going to say now?"
