Jordan Love’s much-anticipated starting debut in the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs turns out to be less than exhilarating by the numbers alone. Opponents and pundits are handing out plenty of praise nonetheless. Head coach Matt LaFleur takes blame.

Kansas City – 6:54 minutes left on the clock. Snap. A few steps back. Chiefs pass rush is in his face.

After a quick look to the front left corner of the end zone, Jordan Love lets the ball fly from the 47-yard line.

His pass comes to the 4-yard line. Davante Adams stretches – in vain. The ball sails out of bounds. A tick too far.

Exactly 5:00 shows the clock at Geha Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Snap in the shotgun formation. Love picks up the ball at the 29-yard line. Chiefs pass rush is in his face again.

Short look down the left sideline in front of the end zone. Love sends the ball to the 8-yard line.

Allen Lazard stops, ducks away. Daniel Sorensen runs past the wide receiver, misses the tackle. Lazard easily jogs the few yards into the end zone. Touchdown Green Bay Packers.

Only 1:54 separate the two scenes in the Green Bay Packers’ 13-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but they still describe the entire game – at least as far as the Packers’ offense is concerned – very well.

Exceeded expectations

Love made it clear in his debut as Green Bays starter that the beginnings are there, but the execution is not yet perfect.

“He looked OK, didn’t make a lot of mistakes, which you can usually expect from a young quarterback,” new ran expert Mark Nzeocha said, analysing the performance of the first-round pick of the 2020 draft.

“He kept his team in the game and he exceeded the expectations – at least that I had for him.”

Especially since the Chiefs had obviously devised the perfect plan to make life as difficult as possible for Love in his first outing from the start.

“The Chiefs defence was very strong. They really put pressure on him,” Nzeocha said.

“I have to take some heat, too,” admitted Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur. “My game plan wasn’t good enough against that kind of pressure. Especially with a young quarterback like that. “

Chiefs defense puts a lot of pressure on Love

The Chiefs’ blitz packages that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo came up with especially provided pressure.

“It was fun to play so aggressively,” said L’Jarius Sneed, who threw the first interception of Love’s NFL career when he intercepted a pass intended for Davante Adams.

“On that play, I knew exactly what was coming,” he went on to describe the interception. “He was pointing his finger. We saw that in the video analysis with Rodgers, too.”

The strong run defence at the start and the deficit also forced Love more and more into the passing game. He ended up with 19 passes received for 190 yards on 34 attempts and a 69.5 passer rating. And just one interception.

Jordan Love: “Got into rhythm too late “

However, his teammates twice jumped to his side as Randall Cobb and A.J. Dillon prevented their counterparts Willie Gay and Charvarius Ward from intercepting the ball.

“I got into my rhythm as the game went on. Too late, obviously. Unfortunately. I wasn’t good enough,” the 23-year-old quarterback was self-critical.

The opponents who hounded him during the game were nevertheless taken with Love. “He showed good approaches, avoided some sacks,” said defensive end Frank Clark. Only safety Tyrann Mathieu brought Love down once.

And then Clark praised Love: “He can be a good quarterback in this league.”

He has at least shown the beginnings of that.