Don't Mess With the Moon
Green Bay Gets an Assist From a Waxing Gibbous
Did your family look at you weirdly because you were talking about the moon during the Packer game? They probably didn’t for long. Because Green Bay was up on the Detroit Lions 20-6 before the first quarter ended and never looked back.
All three Thanksgiving games went Green Bay’s way yesterday. The Cowboys dominated the Commanders, and the 49ers blew out the Seahawks. That puts the Packers’ updated playoff odds at 44% with a favorable schedule ahead.
After playing the Kansas City Taylor Swifts, Green Bay only plays one opponent with a winning record the rest of the way. The Vikings, which only boast a 6-5 record, are led by a backup quarterback. Frankly, nobody knows what Minnesota’s record will be by Week 17.
Is Jordan Love That Dude?
It’s probably too early to answer that definitively, but he is looking more the part every week. After struggling early, Green Bay’s potential quarterback of the future has looked better and better in the last month. Just take a look at his stat line for the previous four weeks:
The worst performance came three weeks ago when Love threw two touchdowns and two picks. Even then, those two interceptions came late in the game as Green Bay was trying to come back. One came on the last play of the game on, effectively, a mid-range Hail Mary attempt.
Against Detroit yesterday, Love made some flashy throws. None more impressive than this (thrown into the tightest throwing window imaginable) for an opening-drive touchdown pass to wide receiver Jayden Reed. Love admitted after the game, that this play was run incorrectly. It appears that WR Christian Watson ran the wrong route, making that window tighter than expected.
That quibble says a few things to me. One, those quick slant routes need to come out quickly and that’s what Love did. Good. Two, maybe he should have pulled it back seeing the traffic on its way due to Watson, but it’s hard to blame Love for Watson’s mistake. Three, that is still exactly where Love needs to put the ball. It was made more impressive because of the erroneous Watson route. That’s still good.
Or how about Love’s deep ball on the first play of the game? It could have been a touchdown, but Love underthrew it a little bit. It was impressive nonetheless, especially since Love had the gusto to insist it was the opening play call.
I think the performance all adds up to this: Love has been impressive lately. I’m not out on him, but I definitely am not in the “absolutely extend him in the offseason” camp. I could see myself getting there in the final six weeks of the season, though.
Join Me in Minnesota!
Among my favorite Thanksgiving traditions, is attending the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe. There’s no better way to spend my holiday weekend than with a combined 13 hours of driving to go to a football game in the cold.
Let’s get all the Wisconsin fans to Huntington Bank stadium and turn Minneapolis red. Drop a comment below, send a DM on the app formerly known as Twitter, or just try to yell my name really loudly, and let’s grab a bite or a drink.
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