Jordan Love and Packers offense show real progress in loss to Steelers
Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh ended with another loss for Green Bay, but unlike the losses that took place during the Packers’ four-game losing streak, progress was made from Jordan Love and the offense.
“I just see a guy that continues to grow and develop and learn and takes the coaching really well,” said Matt LaFleur about Love on Monday. “(He) takes accountability for when we aren’t playing at the level we’d like to play at. He’s a great example for all these guys.”
Love’s overall numbers aren’t going to leap off the stat sheet by any means. He completed 21-of-40 passes for 289 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and both picks arrived with the opportunity to take the lead late. Several dropped passes and the Packers being just 2-for-5 in contested catch situations didn’t help that stat line either.
However, from a process standpoint, he was much improved, and this loss did not mirror previous ones that the Packers have had.
Green Bay began their opening possession on offense already down seven points but put together a scoring drive to tie the game–a sign of growth for the offense, given how abysmal they’ve been in the first half. They also scored 13 first-half points, a far cry from their season average of 4.5.
The Packers finished the game 10-for-18 on third and fourth downs, with several of those conversions coming off of impressive throws from Love. PFF has a metric to measure quarterback effectiveness called big-time throws, which takes into account the placement of the throw, the situation, and the timing. Love’s five big-time throws against the Steelers were the second-most among any quarterback in Week 10.
“I thought he was playing with a lot of confidence,” added LaFleur. “I thought he was decisive. Made some big-time throws down the field. He kept fighting and battling. Gave us an opportunity right there at the end of the game and obviously came up short.”
Where Love has made the biggest strides recently is with his deep ball accuracy. Last week, LaFleur mentioned that on those deep throws, Love needed to “let it rip” and not try to aim those passes. On passes of 20-plus yards on Sunday, Love completed five of his eight passes for 168 yards and a touchdown. The week prior against Los Angeles, Love was 2-for-3 on such passes for 62 yards.
The ability to connect on downfield passes is an element that has been missing from the offense this season. It’s a tough way to live when you’re unable to generate explosive plays. It forces the offense to routinely put together 10-plus play drives to score, and without a deep threat, defenses are able to condense the field, making moving the ball through the run game, over the middle, or on short-area throws more difficult with less space to operate in.
In what was an otherwise sound performance for Love, the interceptions in the fourth quarter, specifically the first one to Christian Watson, provide a teaching moment. Could that pass have been placed a little bit better? Sure. But, according to LaFleur, given the coverage that Pittsburgh was in, the ball should have never gone to Watson. LaFleur mentioned there being a backside option that the ball should have gone to instead.
”You’re always coaching them on the decision-making,” said LaFleur. “It’s one thing to say ‘go let it rip,’ but you’re making a bad decision when you let it rip. You’re constantly coaching them on decision-making. The footwork, the timing of the play, trying to get his body in a great position to make throws, and he’s been great.
“Really receptive, and we expect that to continue, and I think that the better people play around him, the better he will perform as well.”
It’s a difficult balance to strike this season for the Packers and for their fans as well. Winning on Sunday is the ultimate goal and at 3-6, that isn’t happening often enough. With that said, in a season that is primarily about evaluation, specifically figuring out if Love can be the guy moving forward, progress was absolutely made in Pittsburgh, and that in itself is a big step in the right direction. Now, it’s about continuing to build upon that performance, making it the norm rather than the outlier.
“It’s always tough,” LaFleur said. “When you’re focused on your process, you’re focusing on improvement, getting better each and every day. Just maximizing your opportunities. I think our guys are getting better. Now we have to capitalize on opportunities, and that’s not just offensively, but in all three phases.”
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Former Steelers OL Believes OC Hire Means Team Sees Pickett’s Limitations
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Getty Former Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Trai Essex believes the team’s OC hire shows they see Kenny Pickett’s limitations
The Pittsburgh Steelers have settled on an answer to one of their biggest decisions of the offseason.
They are expected to hire former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith as their next offensive coordinator according to Tom Pelissero.
The move was a bit of a surprise after Art Rooney II suggested the team would hire an OC that could help Kenny Pickett develop.
Smith doesn’t exactly fit that description and one of the team’s former players believes he knows the reason why.
Former Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex shared his thoughts about the hire on social media.
In a post on Twitter, Essex shared his belief that the hire means that the Steelers see Pickett’s limitations and want to emphasize the run game.
“This hire just tells me they see Kenny’s limitations and want to emphasize the run game and take as much as they can off the QBs plate. Hoping to recreate what was in Tennessee from a few years ago. The problem with that is, despite a few playoff wins, there was a hard ceiling with those teams in today’s NFL.”
What Essex Thinks it Could Mean for the Rest of the Offseason
Now that the hire has been made, it should make it easier to figure out how the Steelers will handle the rest of their offseason.
The move likely means they aren’t looking at a QB in the draft, as Smith probably isn’t the person you want developing a rookie QB.
That narrows the options a bit as the Steelers only have a few other positions that are a true weakness.
Essex believes the Steelers will emphasize an O-line upgrade in the draft and free agency with an early selection at center and a top free agent at tackle.
In a later tweet, he said, “Because of this hire, they will emphasize improvement on the OL thru the draft & free agency. Center in the 1st or 2nd round [and one of] the top tackles in free agency.”
It’s an approach that would make a lot of sense for a team that will need to be able to win in the trenches consistently for their offense to be successful.
After addressing the offensive line, they’ll also need to find a corner back and some help at linebacker to round out the roster as they’ll need to keep games low scoring if their run-first approach is going to win games.
Could Steelers Add Smith’s Old QB?
Essex also brought up one other interesting possibility. In a final post about Smith being hired, Essex revealed that he believes that the team will bring in another veteran QB and that he wouldn’t be surprised if that QB is Ryan Tannehill.
“If you don’t think this hire was made with a wide eyed and all encompassing analysis of what Kenny has been and what they think he can become, I don’t know what to tell you. They are going to give him every opportunity to win the job, but after 25 games, they understand his skill set. Will it mesh with Smith’s offense? We shall see. But they will bring in another vet. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was Tannenhill.”
The team is going to need to sign a quarterback to compete with Pickett and back him up during the 2024 season.
That could still be Mason Rudolph, but if Rudolph isn’t the answer, then Tannehill becomes an interesting option.
He’s a veteran that had the best years of his career with Smith. He’d already be familiar with the offense.
He didn’t look very good for the Titans in 2023, but also played behind a bad offensive line and had limited options in the passing game.
If the Steelers can get him cheaply, he’s an option that makes some sense as a backup for Pickett in an offense where he wouldn’t be asked to do a ton if called upon.
John Vaccaro covers the NFL for Heavy.com, focusing on the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, MMA and college sports as an editor and writer at BroBible and FanSided. More about John Vaccaro