Rastall Ramblings: Love Asserts MVP Case with Pummeling of Pats

Perhaps no quarterback in the National Football League has been asked to carry more of the weight of his offense this season than Jordan Love. After a thorough disemboweling of the New England Patriots this past Sunday, the Packers’ gunslinger has made his MVP candidacy undeniable.

Love put together perhaps the greatest, most comprehensive performance of his NFL career last weekend, showing why perhaps no quarterback in the league is a more enjoyable watch when he’s on with his remarkable penchant for downfield splash plays.

Love picked up apart New England deep time and time again in Sunday’s 45-27 thumping at Gillette Stadium, completing 23 of 29 passes for 372 yards, three touchdowns and a near-perfect passer rating of 153.2. He even tossed in a rare rushing touchdown on a scramble early in the game just for the fun of it.

You could point to Love’s superb playoff performance in Dallas in his first year as Green Bay’s starter as the gold standard for him, though that game was as much Matt LaFleur repeatedly dunking on then-Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as anything else. This Sunday’s New England demolition was Love at his absolute best, dropping downfield dime after downfield dime to Matthew Golden and Christian Watson with even his few incompletions being barely off the mark.

This was the culmination of what’s been building throughout 2026, where Love has frequently gone big game hunting to solid success, though his stat line hasn’t always reflected just how good he’s looked this season.

A league-high drop rate, an unreliable offensive line and a historically nonexistent run game would be the kind of thing that would sink lesser quarterbacks, yet the ever-calm Love continues to drag the Green Bay offense to success whether they like it or not.

Packers fans have eagerly been waiting for this type of offensive performance — one where their talented corps of pass catchers finally stop with the drops and the supporting cast cuts down on the penalties that have derailed far too many drives.

If those mistakes can be limited and the offensive line holds up to any degree, Love can take it from there. The Watson-Golden duo is one of the best in the entire when everyone is hanging onto the ball, allowing for Green Bay to thrive on offense at a high level even with some of their shortcomings elsewhere.

Love’s near-perfect performance against the Patriots seems to have finally grabbed the nationwide attention his efforts deserve, and he now finds himself in the MVP mix alongside Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Brock Purdy and Trevor Lawrence.

Love currently leads the NFL is passing yards and is on pace for 35 touchdowns and nearly 5,000 yards. That’s not to say he’s a surefire MVP pick or that the offensive line and run game issues couldn’t sink this team in the long run, but his status as one of football’s premier quarterbacks cannot be ignored any longer.

Pivotal games against formidable defensive fronts in the form of the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams lie ahead in Green Bay’s remaining November slate. The Packers are going to need Love to be at his best in those games to pick up wins and keep themselves on a postseason pace. That’s no easy task with the NFC North being an insane gauntlet and the NFC Wild Card race picking up steam with each passing week.

But with Love playing at the level he is, would you bet against him to get the job done?