GREEN BAY – Week after week, pass after pass, the accolades and milestones are beginning to pile up for Jordan Love.
Not one to gloat, the NFL's leading passer through the first eight weeks quietly finds himself on the cusp of another achievement as the Packers ready for Sunday's showdown with the New England Patriots: 100 career touchdown passes.
Doing so in his 57th regular-season start would put the newly-minted 28-year-old quarterback in rarified air, sandwiching Love between two Packers legends in the franchise annals.
Fifteen years ago, Aaron Rodgers threw his 100th TD pass to James Jones in his 55th regular-season start against the Atlanta Falcons while Brett Favre did it in his 61st start with a pass to Edgar Bennett against Cincinnati in 1995.
"One-hundredth career touchdown pass … I think that'll be pretty cool," Love said. "Cool stat, but I think my job is to go out there and be the best player, throw for a lot of yards. The main goal is to win the game. However you get that done, you get that done."
This season, the Packers' path to victory has largely come through the air, as Love currently leads the NFL with 2,246 passing yards and sits in fourth with 16 passing touchdowns.
That start not only has Love on pace for a career-high 4,772 passing yards but also puts him on a trajectory to shatter the Packers' team record for most single-season passing yards.
Rodgers has owned that distinction since throwing for 4,643 yards during his first MVP campaign in 2011, which snapped Lynn Dickey's 29-year-old record set at 4,458 in 1982.
Love's 2,246 passing yards are the most by a Green Bay quarterback through the first eight games since Rodgers (2,253) won his third MVP in 2020. Love's 16 TD passes are the most through eight games since Rodgers (17) won his fourth in 2021.
Love and Rodgers (three times) are the only QBs in Packers history with two or more touchdown passes in at least 7 of their first 8 games of a season. All three times Rodgers did it he went on to win league MVP.
"He has really good command of what we're asking him to do," said quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy of Love. "All the explosive stuff that they've been able to accomplish for us, I think it's just been something that we've been able to lean on. … It's about doing whatever you've got to do to win the game, and that's just kind of where we've found our niche so far."
Despite having a league-low 2.58 seconds to throw from the pocket, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, Love has been an explosive play machine. He leads the NFL in 20-plus-yard completions (33), 25-plus-yard completions (21), 40-plus-yard completions (nine) and 50-plus-yard completions (four).
His two top targets – Christian Watson and Matthew Golden – each individually rank inside the top 10 in receiving yards.
Of course, a big reason for Green Bay's need to turn to the skies is the season-long issues it's experienced running the football. While the Packers rank second in the league with 271.0 passing yards per game, they sit last with 60.6 rushing yards per contest.
The Packers remain optimistic Josh Jacobs' recent return and the solidification of the offensive line will spur a turnaround in the second half of the season.
In the meantime, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich was asked earlier this week if the Packers can keep riding Love's arm in lieu of a more balanced offensive attack.
"Why not?" Stenavich said. "If it's working and he's doing a great job and Jordan's playing the way he's playing, why not?
"He's processing really quickly, finding the open guys when they're there. I think he did a nice job this last week on some off-schedule plays, where he created some time, moved around, and hit some guys down the field."
The Packers' coaches aren't the only ones who have seen Love's progress. Legendary quarterback Tom Brady, who'll call Sunday's game for FOX, praised Love's growth during an appearance this week on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd."
Whether it's the lack of a complementary running game or simply a young quarterback coming into his own, Brady acknowledges all the ways in which Love has risen his game during the Packers' 5-3 start.
"He's throwing the ball out of the pocket, in the pocket, down the field, he's seeing things so well," Brady said. "Coach LaFleur has a ton of confidence in him. When the coordinator and head coach have so much confidence in the quarterback, he's just gonna keep throwing it out there. … Jordan Love is playing exceptional football. This is the best of his career."
The Packers will need everything their franchise quarterback can give when they travel to face a streaking New England team that's bounced back from a slow start to win four of its last five.
The Patriots have climbed into the top 10 in total offense behind third-year starting quarterback Drake Maye while their run defense is allowing a paltry 92.6 yards per game, the sixth-fewest in the league.
Love is excited for the challenge. It'll be his first appearance at Gillette Stadium, the place Brady called home for 20 seasons during his iconic six Super Bowl run with the Patriots.
When the game is over, Love hopes to leave with Green Bay's sixth win of the season and perhaps the football with which he threw his 100th TD pass.
Of course, that's assuming Watson, Golden or whoever catches the pass doesn't accidentally fling the ball in the stands like Jones did after catching Rodgers' 100th at the Georgia Dome.
"We'll definitely have to let them know," said Love with a smile. "It's definitely an honor to know the guys who played before me and to be in up there with the stats. You just need to keep going. We obviously know the type of career those guys had. They've had some long journeys. I just focus on my job, doing the best I can and take it day by day."
