The final numbers from Packers quarterback Jordan Love on Sunday’s Week 11 game in New York, which ended in a taut 27-20 win for Green Bay, were nothing special. Love completed just 13 passes on 24 attempts, for 174 yards. He threw two touchdowns and was sacked twice for a total loss of 12 yards.
Ah, but on a windy day at the Meadowlands, Love’s numbers were deceiving. That’s because there were a handful of dropped passes even by some of Love’s normally sure-handed targets, most notably Romeo Doubs. Coming into Week 11, Doubs had been targets 56 times by Love, and had dropped only one pass all season.
On Sunday, he was credited with two drops on eight targets, according to Pro Football Focus, part of a rough outing for much of the team’s receiver corps.
Love, to his credit, was not pointing fingers in the wake of the Packers win. He said his approach with receivers after drops is to chuck the play and move right on to the next one. And the fact that he threw passes to Doubs eight times despite the miscues shows he follows his own advice.
“I tell guys all the time, next play. Obviously, it’s unfortunate. Obviously, he’s trying to go out there and make the catch,” Love said of Doubs.
“Sometimes, it’s not going to be perfect. It’s just that mindset of the next play. Stay confident. The ball’s going to keep coming your way. If you move on and go make that next play, it will be easy to forget about it.”
Love also noted that it is not as though he is perfect under center, either. The Packers do not pull him every time he throws an interception or an errant pass, and thus he should hot shun a receiver who makes a mistake.
“It’s obviously frustrating, but it’s a team sport, man,” Love said. “It takes everybody out there making plays. You just gotta stay confident in these guys. I always stay confident in my guys that we’ll find ways to make the next play.
“Sometimes it doesn’t go right, sometimes I will have an interception, a turnover, and I gotta have that same mindset—flush it, move on and the opportunity is going to keep coming.”
Other than Doubs, Donatayvion Wicks was the other Packers receiver credited with a drop during the game, though there were certainly other candidates. And not just on offense. At several critical points, Packers defensive backs were well-positioned to make interceptions of Giants quarterback Jameis Winston, but dropped the opportunities.
Evan Williams‘ game-sealing interception with 44 seconds left to play was the only pick the Packers managed on the afternoon.
Said coach Matt LaFleur: “I thought there was plenty of opportunities in the game to kind of build a little bit of a lead and we just didn’t make plays. We didn’t make plays, we didn’t make those plays.”
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney
The Denver Broncos have won eight games in a row and are now 9-2 on the season. Heading into the Week 12 bye, Denver is atop the AFC and again have the best record in the NFL. This team hasn’t lost in two months and are now getting to enjoy some time off.
Many of the players will be able to get fully healthy for the stretch run, and it’s a much-deserved break after a wild first 11 games. Well, the defense has been sensational, and it’s a Super Bowl-caliber unit. The offense has shown a spark at times, but not having JK Dobbins is going to continue to hurt.
The special teams actually turned out its best performance of the season in Week 11, so that was nice to see, but this other group is definitely one to keep an eye on down the stretch, as they lead the league in this brutal category, and it could loom large down the stretch.
The Denver Broncos have 26 drops on the year, according to PFF, which is the most in the NFL, tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars:
Team drops this season (PFF):
26: Jaguars, Broncos
21: Browns
19: Vikings
18: Bears, Commanders
17: Cowboys, Chargers
16: Buccaneers, 49ers, Falcons, Giants
15: Rams, Jets
14: Bills, Chiefs, Packers, Steelers, Panthers
That comes out to over two drops per game, which simply is not something that can continue to happen. According to Pro Football Reference, here are the drop totals from some key Broncos’ weapons:
Troy Franklin: 2
Courtland Sutton: 4
Evan Engram: 5
RJ Harvey: 2
The Broncos have to get this figured out, and whether it’s simply more reps on the JUGS machine or something else, this cannot continue. It’s also bringing down the offense overall, especially when it’s a drop from a downfield throw from Bo Nix.
Obviously, drops are not Nix’s fault – many times the ball has hit a receiver right in the hands, and they simply can’t reel it in. If the Broncos hope to win the AFC West this year and earn a top seed in the AFC, the drops have to stop.
Perhaps the Week 12 bye fixes this a bit? The players will be able to get away for a week, which is probably needed, so maybe that leads to a more focused team heading down the stretch here in 2025, but it also proves that Denver needs another viable weapon on offense.
A Jaylen Waddle trade would have done wonders for this offense, but that could be something that the front office revisits in the offseason.