CHARLOTTE – It's starting to sound like a broken record in Jordan Love's first year as a starter.
But there's just nothing that shakes this guy.
Not missing arguably the offense's two most dynamic receivers in Christian Watson and Jayden Reed in a gotta-have-it game.
Not losing another big weapon, Dontayvion Wicks, to a chest injury after a clutch TD catch late in the first half.
Not after back-to-back three-and-outs – the offense's second and third fruitless possessions of the second half after humming along in the first – and watching a 14-point lead evaporate in half a quarter of football.
Nope. Love made do with what he had, kept his cool and delivered two superb throws on what turned out to be the game-winning drive for a field goal.
"I admire, I've said this before, Jordan's resiliency," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. "It can get tough when you feel the momentum flipping."
It wasn't flipping. It had flipped. Wholesale.
Check out photos from the Week 16 matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023.
But apparently Love had seen enough of Carolina's blitzes in the second half to finally make the Panthers pay. Doubs made a great grab going up and over a defender for 36 yards – upheld on replay – on a pass Love couldn't have thrown much better.
Then on the 20-yard catch-and-run by Tucker Kraft two plays later, Love rifled the ball between two defenders and somehow snuck it through. Kraft bounced off the tacklers and broke free to get into the red zone, once again elevating his game in the absence of fellow tight end Luke Musgrave.
"Credit to Matt," Love said, "trusting me to put the ball in my hand in critical situations."
After the game, Love seemed more interested in talking about the plays those guys made, and the effort from substitute receiver Bo Melton, who had four catches for a productive 44 yards just a week after making his first catch for the Packers. He called it a "complete team game" and he's right.
"It's what I always say, next man up, and guys stepped up and made plays," Love said. "Things happen in football. You have to keep going, keep fighting."
He also knows the offense shouldn't have been in that do-or-die position when any kind of drive for a field goal earlier in the fourth quarter would've salted the game away.
But those things "happen in football" and a quarterback has to process them quickly and move on. He doesn't relish in an impressive, scrambling TD throw to Wicks any more than he dwells on the rough moments. Even audibling at the line of scrimmage to call his own number for a QB sneak and an early TD, which LaFleur called "a cool moment," had to be brought up by others, because, well, classic Love.
"Later in the game, the three-and-outs hurt us," Love said. "We weren't able to stay on the field and we put the defense in a tough position right there.
"Going forward we have to find ways to get over the hump there and stay on the field. It's got to be better."
And that's the most encouraging thing about a 33-point day. Yes, it was against a two-win team. But 40 points was well within the offense's reach after not hitting 30 since Week 1.
"There's a lot of good there, but I still think there's more," LaFleur said of the offensive performance. "You'll always take that. We've had a hard time getting to that.
"Our mindset is that it's whatever it takes to win, if it's 30, if it's 33, if it's 40, if it's 21, it doesn't matter. We've got to find a way to win football games."
As frustrating as the road loss to the Giants was two weeks ago, Love shook off a night full of struggles to get a go-ahead touchdown with two minutes left.
Those were the late scores missing earlier in the year against the Raiders and Broncos, when the Packers' defense was playing better but the offense hadn't found itself quite yet.
It's safe to say this offense truly has something going now, no matter who's out there with Love. That might be the most noteworthy aspect. Injuries have constantly changed the personnel available at running back, receiver and tight end, and Love just keeps plugging along.
"The bottom line is we made a couple plays at the end of the game to propel us to take the win," LaFleur said.
No matter where things go on defense and what happens over these last two games in the playoff chase, there's something to be said for that.
