Jordan Love isn’t dancing around the Packers’ biggest problem. He’s naming it.
In a recent conversation with NFL journalist and commentator Kevin Clark, the Green Bay quarterback pointed straight at the area that hurt his team most last season: finishing games.
“The biggest difference, I think, is our ability to finish,” Love said. “That's kind of where we had a letdown last season, was being able to finish late in games, late in the season, all those things. So I think this year, that's the mindset, that's the goal for us, is to be able to go out there and finish, no matter what the situation is.”
That kind of self-awareness matters in Green Bay, where Love has been steadily growing into the clear leader since the Packers drafted him in 2020. It also matters because the pain point is impossible to ignore. The season’s most damaging moment came in the NFC Wild Card game against the Chicago Bears, when the Packers blew an 18-point halftime lead.
That loss hung over the offseason, and it left Love with a narrative he has to answer: can he and this offense hold steady when the pressure spikes late?
Love’s answer, at least in public, is to confront it directly. That’s where Green Bay’s optimism starts. If the quarterback can stay composed in those moments, the ceiling for this team looks awfully high.
There were real signs of progress last season, too. The Packers flashed on both sides of the ball, with the addition of Micah Parsons helping give the front line a dominant edge and Love himself showing better quickness and cleaner decision-making in the pocket. For a young team still taking shape, those are meaningful steps.
But Love made it clear to Clark that the Packers’ next leap is as much mental as physical. He called “focus” the No. 1 thing Green Bay has to keep in mind on the field.
That’s the thread running through everything here. When the Packers lose focus, the lead slips away.
When they stay locked in on the details, they usually find success. Simple idea, tough to live out for four quarters when the hits keep coming and fatigue starts to bite.
Still, that’s the standard Love is setting. If he can carry this new mentality through the season - for himself and for the offense around him - the Packers have a chance to move past last year’s disappointment and head in a different direction.
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