> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.packmentalitygb.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Love vs. The League, Who actually played better, Jordan Love or Geno Smith? - URL: https://www.packmentalitygb.com/love-vs-the-league-who-actually-played-better-jordan-love-or-geno-smith/ - Published: 2026-09-24T20:49:42.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-24T20:49:42.000Z - Author: Pack Mentality - Tags: Love vs the League ### **Love vs. The League, Week Two Edition** When I watched the game in real time, I saw what my eyes expected to see: Jordan Love operating a shaky offense because he was once again playing behind one of the worst offensive lines imaginable. When I went through the game tape, though, a very different picture emerged. Don't get me wrong, the line was still far from perfect, or even a strength, but this wasn't the same level of bad we saw against Minnesota or in the second half of the Bears Wild Card game. In those games, Jordan Love was operating under a completely different set of circumstances than the opposing QBs. In this game, Geno maybe had marginally more time, but the difference wasn't particularly significant. I also came away from my first watch impressed by the Packers defensive line. I thought they played a big part in wrecking the game. When I watched the film closely, I noticed that the D-line did blow up several plays, but for every one of those, there were a handful where Geno got to operate from a pristine pocket. On those plays, it was actually our much-maligned DBs who stood out. They had a great game, holding their coverages for a very long time and rarely giving up anything huge downfield. I was genuinely surprised to come away from the All-22 thinking the secondary was a clear strength in this game, while the D-line was pretty average. Of course, average is still a hell of a lot better than what we expected from this group without Micah Parsons. Lastly, when I watched the game in real time, I thought this was kind of a shameful win. Don't get me wrong, you'll take any win in the NFL. These guys are all professionals, and you can't take games off on the road against anyone. But my initial impression was that the Packers played badly and happened to win. After watching the film, I'm not so sure. The Jets looked like they might actually have some life in them this year. Outside of the penalties, the Packers weren't constantly beating themselves. The Jets were just playing pretty clean football for most of the game and making them work for it. With all that out of the way, on to the QB matchup. ### **Jordan Love** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/66/fd/66fda761-a755-4ba2-a860-979614227e8d/content/images/2026/09/image-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/66/fd/66fda761-a755-4ba2-a860-979614227e8d/content/images/2026/09/image-2.png) Jordan Love ended the game 16/29 for 145 yards, 2 TDs and a 91.9 passer rating. Love wasn't outright bad in this game, but I also can't say he was good. I will say that even in a rough game, Love manages to avoid beating himself in many spots. The very first play of the game is a perfect example. The Packers opened with a simple designed screen to Reed. It's easy to come out of the gates a little tight. The crowd is loud, you're settling into the game, and your first pass is a quick-hitting designed screen. I'm sure plenty of QBs just autopilot that throw to Reed. The only problem was the screen was completely and totally blown up. Love almost let go of the ball, recognized what was happening at the last second, pulled it back and ate the sack instead. That level of awareness probably saved a pick-six and may have ultimately saved the game. It's interesting how often Love gets compared to Favre instead of Rodgers when he makes so many little heads-up plays like this to avoid unnecessary risks, something that was a hallmark of Rodgers' time with the Packers. These plays don't show up in a box score, but are plays lesser QB's don't often make. Love did start the game a little jumpy overall. It felt like the Vikings game may have sped up his internal clock a bit, because there were several times he was getting rid of the ball from a clean pocket earlier than he needed to. I also didn't love the game called by MLF. Repeatedly, Love had a good enough pocket, went through his progression and just couldn't find anyone open. The hallmark of these Jordan Love Packers teams has been guys schemed open all over the field and Love repeatedly making the right decision about where to go with the football. Guys weren't open in this game. They just weren't. When they did get open, Love did as good a job as ever of finding them. His accuracy wasn't at its normal level, though. Balls were finding the dirt or sailing over people's heads way more often than we're used to seeing. He also wasn't doing a particularly good job of checking the ball down. The checkdown was there on several occasions and he instead chose to go hunting for explosive plays that weren't there. All the greats checked the ball down when it was the right play. Love needs to learn to do that more consistently. The game plan also seemed to consist of virtually no play action, something we've really excelled at in the past, and a ton of quick hitters and screen passes. It's a logical adjustment after what happened against Minnesota, but in hindsight I think it may have been an over correction. It's hard to make a living getting the ball out immediately in the passing game, and the offensive line was reasonable enough in this game that I'm not sure we needed to go quite that extreme against the Jets. Overall, Love wasn't at his best, and that's okay. He still played well enough to avoid making the mistakes that could have handed the Jets the game. He didn't do a lot to win it for the Packers, but he also didn't beat himself. Fortunately, on this day, the Jets couldn't do enough to beat them either. **Geno Smith** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/66/fd/66fda761-a755-4ba2-a860-979614227e8d/content/images/2026/09/image-3.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/66/fd/66fda761-a755-4ba2-a860-979614227e8d/content/images/2026/09/image-4.png) Geno ended the game 27/41 with 1 TD and a 90.2 passer rating. Geno was good in this game. It wasn't always sexy, but Geno takes the layups, and we gave him a fair amount of layups. He had remarkably few negative plays, and honestly, he was mostly let down by cowardly coaching. With a little more aggression from the sideline, he probably cruises to a win. The Jets kicked a field goal on 4th-and-1 from the Packers' 9-yard line while they had the lead, and then followed that up on another possession with the classic run, run, pass. They played not to lose. They ripped that page straight out of MLF's cold dead hands, and it worked about as well for them as it has for him. Geno, on the other hand, did pretty much everything they asked of him and more. He never looked like prime Pat Mahomes, throwing no-lookers and dropping deep balls into a bucket, but he didn't need to. The Packers defensive backs gave his receivers very little space, so Geno patiently worked through his progressions and consistently found his checkdowns in good spots. He was also accurate and on time in the quick passing game. I really liked his game. He held onto the ball a little too long at times and made a couple of pretty bad throws, but when you're throwing it 41 times, there are going to be some mistakes. For the overwhelming majority of those 41 throws, Geno made the right decision and put the ball where it needed to go. It wasn't a spectacular performance. It was just a quarterback taking what the defense gave him over and over again. ### **So Who Actually Played Better?** This one goes to Geno for a variety of reasons. Love finished with a +2.5 across 37 graded plays for +0.07 per play, while Geno finished at +12 across 50 plays for +0.24 per play. Geno had only four negatively graded plays all game, which is pretty remarkable considering how many times he dropped back. I don't think Love was bad. There were still plenty of little things he did well that don't show up in the box score, and even on an off day he mostly avoided the catastrophic mistakes that lose football games. But he wasn't sharp either. His accuracy was inconsistent, he passed up too many checkdowns looking for bigger plays, and the Packers passing game never really found a rhythm. Geno was basically the opposite. Nothing about his performance blew me away, but he just kept making the right play. He took what the Packers gave him, worked through his progressions, hit his checkdowns and rarely put the Jets in a worse situation than they started in. The funny part is that after Week 1, I came away thinking Love played considerably better than his numbers suggested. This week I think he was a bit worse. He was okay. Geno was better. **Winner: Geno Smith** **Love vs. The League Record: 1-1** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/66/fd/66fda761-a755-4ba2-a860-979614227e8d/content/images/2026/09/image-5.png)