
One would think this one means a lot for Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love. The Philadelphia Eagles will invade Lambeau Field for a massive Monday Night Football game in Week 10. They're 6-2 and the defending Super Bowl champions, but this is more than just about this game for the Packers.
There's history here. The Eagles beat the Pack twice last season, including in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. For Love, it goes even deeper than that.
Late in the 2022 season, Love was forced into action against the Eagles when MVP Aaron Rodgers went down with a rib injury. It was his third season with the team at that time, and he showed a proficiency in Matt LaFleur's offense. He completed 6-of-9 passes in that one for 113 yards and a touchdown to Christian Watson, and it was that game that the Packers first got a true glimpse of the franchise quarterback they drafted Love to be.
Love's next two matchups with the Eagles, in 2024, weren't so hopeful. In the season-opener from Brazil, he threw two touchdowns but also an interception and suffered an injury that ended up plaguing him for the rest of the season. In the Wild Card round of those 2024 playoffs, Love and the Pack once again matched up with Philly, and in that one he threw no touchdowns compared to three interceptions in a 22-10 loss.
Needless to say, Love doesn't have the greatest memories of his games against the Eagles sans that first relief appearance, but you won't catch him feeling one way or the other about this primetime matchup in Week 10.
True to the player we've come to expect him to be, Love was cool and collected when discussing this matchup earlier in the week. He's not going to get too high or too low. He's not going to be thinking about anything else other than this game, and he especailly isn't going to be looking backward to Green Bay's disastrous loss against the Carolina Panthers in Week 9.
"You bounce back by coming back in the building, getting back to work, and finding ways to improve," Love said. "Keep stacking days and keep that mindset that 'It's a long season.' You just gotta take it week at a time and get back to that 1-0 mindset."
What Love said there has to be Green Bay's mindset going into this one. As a team, they've lacked focus this season. That's why they've looked so good against teams like the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers in big moments, and have looked terrible against "lesser" teams like the Cleveland Browns and Panthers.
They can't make this game more than it is, and Love knows that better than most. Sure, they want to play with intensity and use the past losses to the Eagles as fuel, but at the end of the day the only thing that matters is getting this win.
The Packers' standing in the NFC doesn't matter. Their lead in the NFC North doesn't matter. Heck, their Super Bowl aspirations don't matter at this point.
Just win, and the rest will take care of itself. That's what Love and the Packers need in this one: Focus.
Everything else is just noise.