GREEN BAY – The good news is Packers quarterback Jordan Love's injured knee appeared to get through Sunday's game no worse for wear despite a painful hit on a scramble in the second quarter.
"He's a helluva competitor," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said.
The bad news is Love will be playing the what-if game in his head for a day or two before he can shake off the 31-29 loss to the Vikings at Lambeau Field.
Despite all the ways Minnesota's defense tried to confuse Love with looks, bluffs, blitzes and bails to take advantage of his two-week layoff, there were plays to be made early on as the Packers fell behind big. But Love's accuracy was "shaky," likely due to rust.
"Ball placement was a little all over the place today," Love confessed. "I think it picked up later, but early on just missed a couple throws and was a little bit off. Made it hard on some of the receivers."
Those slightly off-target throws, mainly to Dontayvion Wicks and Romeo Doubs, were still catchable but weren't caught. So in fairness, the throws could've been better and the catches still could've been made.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
The biggest regret, though, came midway through the fourth quarter.
Down 31-22, the Packers had a first down at the Minnesota 34-yard line after a 36-yard completion to Wicks to start the drive. A field goal or touchdown on that possession would've made it a one-score game again, and the Packers had all three timeouts to use on defense if needed.
But the Vikings jumbled Love's mind at just the right (for them) and wrong (for him) time.
For all the occasions Minnesota had shown blitz and backed off, veteran safety Harrison Smith came at Love this time, unblocked. Love was in up-tempo mode, so he didn't use his cadence to get the Vikings to show their hand, and just took a chance.
With Smith bearing down on him, Love lofted a deep ball for Wicks in the end zone that he had no chance to catch. Cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. was playing way behind Wicks, got to the ball first, and made the uncontested interception.
It wasn't officially the final death blow to the comeback, but given the situation it was the most damaging one.
"We were going fast and they got me right there, brought an all-out (blitz)," Love said, tipping the proverbial cap to Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
"They had everybody up on the line of scrimmage and dropped out of there for the most part, and that was one time they brought it. In that instance, I could just throw the ball away, throw it out of bounds and live to fight another day."
It was reminiscent of the unnecessary hero play he tried to make at the end of last January's playoff loss to the 49ers, also on first down. That resulted in an interception as well when there would've been chances to salvage the drive if the ball is protected.
In this case, Love also had changed Wicks' route from an out to a go, and the play didn't have any hot reads or other outlets, so he left himself in no man's land, not thinking the blitz was actually coming.
"One of those critical mistakes," he said. "Gotta be able to see the all-out."
It's another tough lesson for Love where his aggression got the best of him. If there's reason to forgive the quasi repeat from eight months ago, it's that this was the first start of his NFL career in which he was battling through a legitimate injury.
He clearly wasn't 100% mobility-wise with a brace on his knee, was making his share of back-foot throws (especially early on) due to the gingerly front leg, and was dealing with maybe the league's most confusing defense on limited practice reps for his return to action.
That's a lot to ask for, and the plan certainly wasn't to throw a career-high 54 passes (which resulted in other career highs of 32 completions, 389 yards, four TDs, and a career-high-tying three INTs). But it became necessary in part because the defense gave up touchdown drives of 73, 73 and 46 yards the first three times the Vikings touched the ball.
It's a team game, and the Packers simply put too much on Love in these circumstances to win this one. But he finished his postgame comments talking optimistically about what this team has going for it, knowing as a group they can be better for what they battled through Sunday, Love included.
"I'm proud of the way guys fought and stayed in there and definitely nobody quit," he said.
"It's definitely a long season … you know, we didn't make (enough) plays, but the playmakers we have and the team we have, I definitely like where we're at."
