Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
AROUND THE SHIELD — Jordan Love made his share of good throws, and plenty that he'll want back, for the Green Bay Packers in Sunday's tight game against the Houston Texans.
But when the former Utah State starting quarterback took over down 22-21 with just under two minutes remaining, he refused to panic.
A younger Love might have. A younger Love probably did.
But Love has learned from those moments in his second season as a full-time starter. In particular, he was happy with one key adjustment.
"It came down to us," said Love, who completed 24-of-33 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. "We knew what it was; just go win the game.
"That's one of the biggest areas we tried to improve on from last year," he added of the Packers' drives inside of the two minutes. "We came up short too many times in these two-minute drill situations. It's definitely been something that we focused on."
Whatever changed, or however he learned, Love did what he had to do in guiding Green Bay 44 yards in eight plays to set up new kicker Brandon McManus for a 45-yard field goal that helped the Packers walk off with a win and a 5-2 start to the season.
Love threw ridiculous touchdown passes to Tucker Kraft and Dontayvion Wicks, and also added a game-high eight passes for 94 yards to Romeo Doubs.
WHAT A CATCH BY KRAFT!#HOUvsGBpic.twitter.com/wrnCQjerHd
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) October 20, 2024
But the Packers trailed 19-14 at halftime, and a pair of interceptions didn't help.
"It was all right," Love said when asked to critique his game. "I definitely want to be able to limit those mistakes, the interceptions, just do better taking care of the ball. I definitely want to clean that up. … That definitely hurt me, but you've got to bounce back."
Sunday's game was also his ninth consecutive game with at least two touchdown passes, putting the young signal caller in fairly exclusive company.
At 25 years and 353 days, Love is the fourth quarterback age 25 or younger with at least two passing touchdowns in nine consecutive games or more. The others? Patrick Mahomes, Brett Favre and Dan Marino.
Live and learn, but Love's future may be as bright as his present.
Here's a look at how other former Utah high school and college football standouts performed in Week 7 of the 2024 NFL regular season.
Monday Night Football
Baltimore vs. Tampa Bay
Ravens (4-2)
- Kyle Van Noy, LB, BYU
- Marcus Williams, S, Utah
Buccaneers (4-2)
- No locals on the active roster
Los Angeles vs. Arizona
Chargers (3-2)
- Simi Fehoko, WR, Brighton (via Stanford)
- Alohi Gilman, S, Orem (via Notre Dame)
Cardinals (2-4)
- Khyiris Tonga, DT, BYU/Granger
Sunday Night Football
Pittsburgh 37, New York 15
Steelers (5-2)
- Jaylen Warren, RB, Utah State/Snow/East (via Oklahoma State): Reserve running back ran for 44 yards on 12 carries, caught two passes for 15 yards
- Miles Killebrew, S, Southern Utah: Reserve safety also played on special teams
Jets (2-5)
- No locals on the active roster
Devin Lloyd at half:
— 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐧 (@CookedByDevyV2) October 20, 2024
89.2 RDEF grade
82.5 TKL grade
72.4 OVR
7 TKLs
3 run stops
Stay on that side pic.twitter.com/FbqCogo5xb
Sunday afternoon
Jacksonville 32, New England 16
Jaguars (2-5)
- Devin Lloyd, LB, Utah: Starting linebacker had a team-high 11 tackles and a sack on defense
Patriots (1-6)
- No locals on the active roster
Seattle 34, Atlanta 14
Seahawks (4-3)
- Sataoa Laumea, OG, Utah: Inactive for Week 7
Falcons (4-3)
- Tyler Allgeier, RB, BYU: Reserve running back ran for 36 yards on five carries, caught one pass for 9 yards on offense
- Clark Phillips III, CB, Utah: Reserve cornerback made one tackle on defense
- Kaden Elliss, LB, Judge Memorial (via Idaho): Starting linebacker had team-high nine tackles and two quarterback hits on defense
The #Bills 🤝 'Mr. Brightside'
— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) October 20, 2024
Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox and Mack Hollins with another strong performance on lead vocals and air guitar.
Keon Coleman and Spencer Brown getting in the mix as well.#BillsMafia@BuffaloPluspic.twitter.com/Qb36i5kXQY
Buffalo 34, Tennessee 10
Bills (5-2)
- Cole Bishop, S, Utah: Reserve safety made one tackle on special teams
- Dalton Kincaid, TE, Utah: Reserve tight end caught three passes for 52 yards with a fumble
- Taron Johnson, CB, Weber State: Starting cornerback totaled seven tackles and a pass defended on defense
Titans (1-5)
- No locals on the active roster
Cincinnati 21, Cleveland 14
Bengals (3-4)
- Ryan Rehkow, P, BYU: Punted eight times for 354 yards (44.3 yards per punt) with four punts downed inside the 20
- Zack Moss, RB, Utah: Reserve running back ran for 7 yards on six carries, caught three passes for 33 yards
- Tanner McLachlan, TE, Southern Utah (via Arizona): Inactive for Week 7
- Jay Tufele, DT, Bingham (via USC): Inactive for Week 7
Browns (1-6)
- Mohamoud Diabate, LB, Utah: Reserve linebacker had three tackles on defense with a tackle for loss, and one tackle on special teams
Green Bay 24, Houston 22
Packers (5-2)
- Jordan Love, QB, Utah State: Starting quarterback completed 24-of-33 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions and three sacks taken
- Zayne Anderson, S, BYU/Stansbury: Reserve safety made one tackle on special teams
Texans (5-2)
- Dalton Schultz, TE, Bingham (via Stanford): Reserve tight end caught one pass for 28 yards
CJ Stroud and Jordan Love
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 20, 2024
Game recognize Game pic.twitter.com/KObOaL4hip
Indianapolis 16, Miami 10
Colts (4-3)
- Blake Freeland, OT, BYU/Herriman: Reserve tackle also played on special teams
- Julian Blackmon, S, Utah/Layton: Starting safety made nine tackles
- Matt Gay, K, Utah/UVU/Orem: Kicked field goals of 52, 22 and 38 yards and one extra point
Dolphins (2-4)
- Tyler Huntley, QB, Utah: Starting quarterback completed 7-of-13 passes for 87 yards with a touchdown and two sacks taken, and ran for 20 yards on five carries
Detroit 31, Minnesota 29
Lions (5-1)
- Sione Vaki, RB, Utah: Reserve running back made one tackle on special teams
- Penei Sewell, OT, Desert Hills (via Oregon): Starting right tackle also played on special teams
- Tim Patrick, WR, Utah: Starting wide receiver caught two passes for 25 yards
Vikings (5-1)
- Taki Taimani, DT, East (via Oregon): Reserve defensive lineman also played on special teams
Penei Sewell is a monster pic.twitter.com/mJLhh4mrRt
— Erik Schlitt (@erikschlitt) October 20, 2024
Philadelphia 28, New York 3
Eagles (4-2)
- Britain Covey, WR/RS, Utah/Timpview: Inactive for Week 7
Giants (2-5)
- No locals on the active roster
Los Angeles 20, Las Vegas 15
Rams (2-4)
- Jonah Williams, DE, Weber State: Inactive for Week 7
Raiders (2-5)
- Andre James, OC, Herriman (via UCLA): Starting center also played on special teams
- Jackson Powers-Johnson, OG, Corner Canyon (via Oregon): Starting left guard also played on special teams
Washington 40, Carolina 7
Commanders (5-2)
- Michael Davis, CB, BYU: Reserve cornerback made one tackle on special teams
- Bobby Wagner, LB, Utah State: Starting linebacker totaled six tackles on defense
Panthers (1-6)
- Brady Christensen, OL, BYU/Bountiful: Starting center also played on special teams
Kansas City 28, San Francisco 18
Chiefs (5-0)
- Kingsley Suamataia, OT, BYU/Orem: Reserve tackle also played on special teams
49ers (3-3)
- Fred Warner, LB, BYU: Starting linebacker had eight tackles on defense
- Mitch Wishnowsky, P, Utah: Punted four times for 193 yards (48.3 yards per punt) with three punts downed inside the 20
"You can do one of two things. You can sulk in defeat, or you can see what the reality is, fix it, move on, and get ready to win a game next week."
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) October 21, 2024
Fred Warner on the 49ers mindset after another tough loss to the Chiefs pic.twitter.com/tcdC6kBKZy
Thursday Night Football
Denver 33, New Orleans 10
Broncos (4-3)
- Zach Wilson, QB, BYU/Corner Canyon: Inactive for Week 7
- Cody Barton, LB, Utah/Brighton: Starting linebacker had eight tackles, a sack, a pass defended and returned a fumble 54 yards for a touchdown
- Garett Bolles, OT, Utah/Snow/Westlake: Starting left tackle played 63 snaps on offense and seven on special teams
- Jonah Elliss, LB, Utah: Reserve linebacker had two tackles, shared a sack and added a quarterback hit on defense
- Devaughn Vele, WR, Utah: Starting receiver caught one pass for 20 yards on offense
Saints (2-5)
- Taysom Hill, TE, BYU: Inactive for Week 7
- Dallin Holker, TE, BYU/Lehi (via Colorado State): Reserve tight end play three snaps on offense, two on special teams
- Jamaal Williams, RB, BYU: Reserve running back ran for 17 yards on three carries in 12 snaps on offense, six on special teams
- Rashid Shaheed, WR/RS, Weber State: Placed on injured-reserve with season-ending injury