When the Kansas City Chiefs faced the Green Bay Packers in 2021, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo walked off the field impressed by then-rookie QB Jordan Love.
The Chiefs defeated the Packers 13-7 that day at Arrowhead, but Love made quite the impression in his first career start filling in for Aaron Rodgers.
“I was impressed with him coming out of that game,” Spagnuolo said of Love. “I never thought he got rattled. We played really well defensively. But I came out of that game saying that he had something, and you couldn’t rattle him. And I’ve seen him progress through that, and now they’re hitting their stride.”
The Chiefs and Packers will meet again Sunday night at Lambeau Field, and the Chiefs say they will need to be at the top of their game to get a win. Though the Packers enter play at 5-6, they have won two in a row and three of their last four thanks in large part to Love.
After backing up Rodgers his first two seasons, Love has thrown for 2,699 yards this season and completed 60 percent of his passes with 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He’s also rushed for 221 yards and scored two touchdowns on the ground.
“I think they’re developing really well,” Chiefs safety Justin Reid said. “I think this is a whole new team than what we saw in the preseason last year. Jordan Love has been developing really nicely. You can see the mentorship that he’s taken from Rodgers is really showing on the field.
“The guy can throw the ball really well, and he’s going through his reads and making the right throws. They’re rolling right now. That’s a good team.”
The Chiefs (8-3) are hoping to avoid last week’s start when they trailed the Raiders 14-0. Reid, who had nine tackles in the comeback win, said when the Chiefs finally settled down, they showed who they really are. He also said the Chiefs have stressed the importance of getting off to a good start this week against the Packers.
“It was just getting back to ourselves and settling the nerves a little bit,” Reid said. “They came out and jumped on us early. It’s a divisional game, and they did some things, and were ready to go play. And as we took that, we settled back into who we are offensively and defensively and special teams, too.
“And once we were able to settle our nerves we were able to go out and be the dominate team that we know we can be. So there’s been an emphasis this week to make sure we start the game out that way.”
