GREEN BAY – It's a statistic that measures passing efficiency and explosiveness. On Sunday, Packers QB Jordan Love hit it for the first time this year, and for the first time at Lambeau Field in his two-plus seasons as the starter.
The stat is yards per pass attempt, and the somewhat rare benchmark or milestone in a given game is 10.0. To average 10 yards per pass attempt – to be clear, attempt not completion – signals a performance in which the offense wasn't overly reliant on the passing game, but when the QB did throw the ball, the production was significant.
Love averaged exactly 10.0 yards per attempt in the 27-18 victory over the Bengals. Well technically, with 26 attempts for 259 yards it was 9.96, but rounding to one decimal place hits 10.0.
It's the fourth time in Love's career he's reached that mark or better, and the first time in a home game. The others were the 2023 NFC Wild Card playoff at Dallas (21 attempts, 272 yards, 13.0) and last year's games at Chicago (17-261, 15.4) and at Detroit (20-206, 10.3). Only the Lions game resulted in a loss, on a walk-off field goal.
Love's 26 attempts Sunday are his most in a game with the double-digit average, which shouldn't be overlooked. How did it happen?
It starts with a strong running game, and the Packers churned out 153 rushing yards, so the offense wasn't overly reliant on the pass. If a QB has to throw the ball 35-40 times in a game, then he has to throw for 350-400 yards to hit 10.0 per attempt. That's really tough to do.
From there, it's also about producing explosive gains, and the Packers did that, beginning with WR Romeo Doubs' 21-yard completion on the first snap of the game. After that, WR Matthew Golden had a 20-yard catch and run, plus downfield grabs of 35 and 31 yards. RB Josh Jacobs took a middle checkdown for 29 yards, while TE Tucker Kraft hauled in a 24-yard strike down the seam and turned a short pass to the flat into a 19-yard TD.
That's 179 yards on seven completions, by pushing the ball down the field and also generating yards after the catch.
Sunday's performance jumped Love up to third in the league in yards per attempt at 8.6, behind only Seattle's Sam Darnold (9.6) and Baltimore's Lamar Jackson (9.1).
Love's yards per attempt in his first two seasons as a starter were 7.2 in 2023 and 8.0 last year. It's an indication he and this offense continue trending in the right direction.
