No Guts, No Glory: The Defining Trait Showed by Packers QB Jordan Love

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In Week 1, no quarterback absorbed more hits than Jordan Love.

Also in Week 1, Love finished with the second-most passing yards.

Even though the Green Bay Packers lost 39-22 to the Vikings, it was a big-time performance by Love to keep the Packers afloat in a game in which their offensive line stunk and was sunk. He threw for 387 yards – only the Saints’ Tyler Shough (410) threw for more – while being hit six more times than any other passer.

There are a lot of numbers that define quarterback play. Yards, completion percentage, touchdowns, passer rating and EPA are all useful tools in determining the best and worst quarterbacks.

However, perhaps the most important tool in separating the championship-worthy quarterbacks from the rifle-armed pretenders is impossible to measure.

Guts.

There’s no stats that show intestinal fortitude. No Combine drills. It doesn’t show up in Next Gen Stats.

As a quarterback, can you stand in the pocket and deliver a strike when you know you’re going to get smoked by a frothing-at-the-mouth defender?

That’s where Love excelled for most of last week’s game.

“I think that’s just part of the position,” Love said on Wednesday. “I think there’s times as a quarterback you have a clean pocket; there’s times where you’re going to have to take a hit and try to stay focused and keep your main thing on delivering an accurate ball. I think that’s just part of playing the position.”

Love’s backup, Tyrod Taylor, is in his 16th NFL season. One reason for his longevity is his fearless play when men who outweigh him by 100 pounds are ready to clobber him.

“You feel the pocket; you don't always see it,” Taylor said. “At the end of the day, our eyes are downfield trying to get a completion. Obviously, it comes with the game, it comes with the position. But the main focus is trying to get the ball out as quick as possible. And sometimes a hit comes with that. But, at the end of the day, you want to avoid them at all costs. But it's part of the game sometimes.”

That’s what Love did so well for most of the Minnesota game. This montage of throws from Yahoo’s Nate Tice includes a few of the throws in which Love threw dimes while being hammered by Vikings defenders.

Jordan Love. Pretty damn good! pic.twitter.com/soErlz57Gx
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) September 17, 2026

“He did a great job of staying composed, understanding that Minnesota brings pressure,” Taylor said. “We knew that and tried our best to put a plan to go out there and execute to be able to beat it. And I think he did a great job of finding space in the defense and completing passes under duress and getting the offense in the best opportunity to be successful.”

As we all learned in school, there is a flight-or-fight response in dangerous situations. For most people, the response in many of the situations that Love faced on Sunday would be flight.

Or duck.

Love, however, went blow for blow with Minnesota’s punishing defense. Even as the offensive line lost their blocks or flat-out didn’t block anyone, Love continually kept his eyes downfield rather than focusing on the blitzers and then running for his life.

“Yeah, most people I think would flinch or would just see the pressure,” Taylor said. “I think the guys who play at a high level in this position for an extended period of time are ones who can feel the pocket, understand that you may get hit, but still have the composure to be able to deliver an accurate ball. Because when teams bring pressure, there’s also voids in the defense.”

Quarterbacks can be taught proper mechanics. They can improve their arm strength and release. They can master the scheme and all the line-of-scrimmage machinations. Coaches can create drills to simulate pressure on the practice field. But, ultimately, quarterbacks either have the ability to tune out the chaos around them to throw a strike or they don’t.

“I think you can get more comfortable with it the more you play the position, but I think it is kind of just natural,” Love said. “You can get more comfortable being in the pocket and having that awareness of keeping your focus down the field, trying to complete the ball and, obviously, get it out before you do get it hit. But it is just a focus thing. I think it’s natural.”

Love threw for a league-high 166 yards when under pressure last week, according to Pro Football Focus. Facing pressure on a league-high 54.3 percent of his dropbacks, he was just 8-of-21 in those situations but traded big plays with big hits until the end of the game, when he fumbled twice (lost one) and threw an interception.

Ultimately, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores won the day. But Love didn’t go down without a fight. The Packers might have lost by 40 with a timid, skittish quarterback.

Love will be stressed by the Jets on Sunday. New York had three sacks and nine quarterback hits against the Titans in Week 1. It pressured Cam Ward on 41.0 percent of his dropbacks.

Love will be ready for whatever’s thrown at him. Like any good quarterback, he understands that pain is temporary. Big completions are forever.

“It feels better when you complete it,” Taylor said. “It feels even better when it's a touchdown.”

The vultures appear to be circling the Packers after their latest epic collapse.

Not so fast. ⬇️https://t.co/68pyQ7oQmZ
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 19, 2026

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