At 2-4 with a quarterback whose passer rating is below 80, the Packers have floated into uncharted territory.
Through Week 7, Jordan Love's quarterback rating is 79.4, the fifth lowest in football among qualifiers.
Even when Aaron Rodgers uttered the famous "R-E-L-A-X" quote in 2014, his rating was 95.1. Through seven games last year, the Packers were 3-3 -- en route to 3-6 -- and Rodgers rating was near 95 again, at 94.2.
The 19-17 loss in Denver wasn't a challenging battle for the Packers offense against a rugged, stingy defense. The Broncos entered the contest last in Aaron Schatz's defensive DVOA.
So where does Green Bay go from here? How long is it until they know Love is or isn't the guy? Or, should a decision already be made? Before answering those questions, let's examine the clear-cut issues the Packers quarterback has exhibited this season.
His foundational problem is major -- the absence of requisite accuracy.
Through Week 7, 15.5% of Love's throws (not counting spikes or throwaways) have been deemed "off target," which is the third-highest rate of off-target throws in football, trailing only Kenny Pickett and Deshaun Watson.
Added on top of that is this -- Love's head coach and offensive play-caller Matt LaFleur is a Kyle Shanahan disciple. LaFleur's running an offensive system that, across many years, with different teams, has bred quarterback efficiency.
The Packers can cling to this dynamic with Love and his accuracy problems -- his main issue is simply doing too much, which is better than not possessing the ability to do enough. In other words, he's too often getting too cute or flashy with his footwork and delivery.
Check here, how Love fades from this late-game throw when it wasn't totally necessary. The ball was low and behind Christian Watson (and Watson got hurt on the play to boot).
Pressure from his right sparked a drift left from Love. The pocket movement was good. But he didn't need to continue to fade that way as he released the football.
This one wasn't as egregious, because it was a short touch throw, and that type of full-body reaction is normal in those instances. Still, Love unnecessarily drifted backward at the release of this football.
And these two throws aren't outliers. The arm-talent exhibitions from awkward platforms are the norm for Love, dating back to his collegiate days at Utah State. It's one thing to often sling the football in a Mahomesian style in the Mountain West. Love proved if you're naturally talented enough, it can be part of the reason you get drafted in the first round. Doing so on a regular basis in the NFL -- particularly when it's not needed -- is a dangerous game. And it's one of the leading causes in Love simply not hitting his intended targets at anywhere close to the rate he needs to for the Packers offense to operate well.
It was a bad look for Love and the Packers offense, fresh off the bye, with Aaron Jones back in the mix, to flop in Denver. No doubt about it.
But Green Bay doesn't have another quarterback to turn to -- I really don't think fifth-round rookie Sean Clifford is the savior in this scenario. Because of that, even though Love's growing pains have been a culprit in the team's 2-4 start, the Packers have to ride it out with him. Being fully aware of the sunk-cost fallacy, it's far too early to abandon the plan built around Love.
He still needs to be legitimately coached. When his pocket is clean, which it has been on right around 70% of the time to date this season, the sidearm fadeaways can only come after Love is a pillar of fundamentals and proper mechanics throwing the football.
That'll lead to more on-target throws and completions.
Fortunately for Love, the final 11 outings on the schedule feature just three contests against defenses currently in the top 10 in Expected Points Added -- Buccaneers, Steelers, Chiefs -- and five against defenses in the bottom 12 in that all-encompassing statistic.
Now if Love's ball-placement issues persist, and the Packers stumble offensively throughout the remainder of the 2023 campaign, they'll be in a difficult place for 2024 at the quarterback position but fortunately for them not an expensive one.
Even if the Packers flat-out cut Love before June 1, it'd represent a mere $12.5M dead cap hit. But his cap number next season is $7.7M, microscopic for a veteran quarterback, so it'd probably behoove the club to simply keep him on the team regardless, maybe in that case with a rookie passer to be placed in a quarterback competition in camp.
For the time being, suggesting a quarterback needs to get more fundamentally sound throwing the football sounds overly simple. But it's right place to start for Love that will help tip his currently downward-facing arrow toward the sky.