The former first-round pick felt prepared for the relief appearance after taking more first-team reps in practice this year than perhaps his first two NFL seasons combined due to Rodgers’ lingering thumb injury. Love entered the game with 11:11 left on the game clock and quickly got to work.
He converted the offense’s first third down of the game with a 7-yard out to Allen Lazard before connecting with Watson on a pass across the middle that the rookie second-round pick took to outside and up the sideline en route to a 63-yard touchdown, the Packers’ longest offensive play of the season.
“I thought he came in and didn’t skip a beat,” said Watson, who finished with four catches for a game-high 110 yards. “When he came in, it felt like he had been in there before with all of us. I think we had a good shot with it.”
With Rodgers in the locker room, Philadelphia countered with a lengthy 10-play, 43-yard drive that ate 6 minutes, 44 seconds off the clock. The series culminated in a Jake Elliott 54-yard field goal with 2:21 left that pretty much sealed the game.
Still, Love went back out and took what Philadelphia’s defense was giving him. Following Keisean Nixon‘s 53-yard kickoff return, Love threw a 15-yard pass to Watson and then delivered a 17-yard dart to Lazard across the middle, which led to a 33-yard Crosby field goal that brought the Packers back within one score.
Standing tall in the pocket, Love finished 6-of-9 for 113 yards and a touchdown (146.8 passer rating). While an admittedly small sample size, the relief performance was a positive sign of growth after a spot start against Kansas City last year that Love studied at length in the offseason.
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