Jordan Love meets a crucial test. Can he carry the Green Bay Packers, or will the Chicago Bears seize control of the NFC North?
We're going to learn everything we need to know about Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love against the Chicago Bears in Week 16.
At times in 2025 he's looked like an MVP-level quarterback. In this last stretch of four wins in a row, he was playing like one of the best quarterbacks in the league. From mid-October to early November, he threw for 13 touchdowns compared to just two interceptions and the Packers went 6-2 over that stretch of games.
Heck, Love looked like an MVP quarterback in the first half of Green Bay's 34-26 road loss to the AFC-leading Denver Broncos. He completed 17-of-22 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown in that first half. He finished the game completing just 24-of-40 passes for 276 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions with a passer rating of just 68.3.
From great to not so great, that has been the story of Love's career so far with the Packers. Sometimes it seems like Green Bay has somehow found it's third-straight Hall of Fame quarterback, and other times Love seems league-average at best.
And here's the thing, league average is okay with the weapons he has on offense and with a borderline elite defense spearheaded by Micah Parsons.
League average won't get the job done this Saturday on the road against the Bears, though, especially with Parsons out for the next nine months (at least) with a torn ACL.
If you think about it, the Packers have lost their best offensive player for the season in 2025, Tucker Kraft, and now they've lost their best defensive player.
Most teams couldn't overcome that kind of injury luck, but the only way you can overcome it is if you have a quarterback who can literally put the team on his back and will them to wins.
And frankly, that's the only way this season ends up in anything positive for the Packers.
They still have a chance to win the NFC North, make the playoffs and make a run, but it's all contingent on whether or not Love can shoulder this team from here on out.
If he can, he'll prove himself to be worthy of MVP consideration, and he'll have earned that.
If he can't, though, there's a real chance the Packers go into Soldier Field and lose to the Bears, which would effectively give Chicago the NFC North crown. There'd also be a real worry that the Pack couldn't beat the Baltimore Ravens or Minnesota Vikings to finish the season, either, which could mean they'd not make it into the playoffs.
That idea would have seemed foolish before the loss to the Broncos, but that's how big of a deal it was for the Packers to lose Parsons. Throw Parsons on the heap alongside Kraft, Devonte Wyatt and Elgton Jenkins, and you can make the case that the Packers are now without four of their best five or six players to end this season.
They still have Love, though, and if he's as good as many think he could be, they still have a chance.
No pressure, though.