Power rankings during the NFL season provide a fascinating, if unimportant, glimpse of how clubs are performing at
a given point in time. Power rankings at the end of the season are absolutely worthless; what matters is how teams
performed in the playoffs.
The Green Bay Packers finished ninth after progressing to the divisional round of the playoffs, which is the NFL’s
equivalent of the Elite Eight. “The future appears bright,” Edholm concluded. And with good reason: Jordan Love
appears to be another standout quarterback for the Packers.
Following a first half of the season marked by big mistakes in big situations, Love dominated down the stretch. From
Week 11 against the Chargers to the wild-card victory over the Cowboys, Love completed 70.7 percent of his throws,
with 21 touchdowns and one interception, for a passer rating of 116.6. In the process, he joined Drew Brees (2018)
and Matt Ryan (2016 and 2017) as the only quarterbacks to pass for at least 2,400 yards, 21 touchdowns, zero or one
interception, and a completion rate of at least 70% in nine games.
Love, along with Hall of Famer Kurt Warner (1999) and future Hall of Famer Patrick Mahomes (2018), are the only
quarterbacks in NFL history to have at least 4,000 passing yards and 32 passing touchdowns in his first season with
multiple starts. Behind that remarkable stretch of play, the Packers recovered from 2-5 and 3-6 records, as well as a
late two-game losing skid, to finish 9-8 and qualify for the playoffs. “How can you not be excited about his potential,
with the impossibly young and talented group of pass catchers at his disposal?” Edholm stated.
