- Career-best big-time throw production: Jordan Love recorded six big-time throws against the Chicago Bears, setting a new single-game career high and leading all qualifying quarterbacks in Week 5.
- Dominant deep passing: Love completed six of his eight passes that traveled at least 20 yards downfield for 258 yards and two touchdowns, earning a 99.9 PFF passing grade on those throws.
- Top-ranked quarterback performance: Love earned a 94.5 PFF passing grade, completed 25 of 31 attempts for 367 yards and led qualifying quarterbacks in yards per attempt (11.8).
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Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love entered Week 5 looking to build on an inconsistent start to the 2026 season. By the end of Sunday's divisional matchup against the Chicago Bears, he had produced his highest-graded passing performance of the year, set a new career high in big-time throws and delivered one of the most impressive downfield passing displays of his career.
Love completed 25 of his 31 attempts for 367 yards and two touchdowns, earning a 94.5 PFF passing grade — the highest among the 29 quarterbacks in Week 5 so far. He also led that group with six big-time throws, a 17.6% big-time throw rate and 11.8 yards per pass attempt.
The performance marked a dramatic turnaround for a Packers passing attack that had struggled to find consistent efficiency through the first four weeks.
A fresh start
Green Bay entered Week 5 with a 2-2 record, having beaten the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Buccaneers while falling to the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings. The Packers offense ranked 27th in the NFL in EPA per play (-0.077) and 16th in yards per play (5.3) across those four games. Their passing attack ranked 19th in both EPA per pass play (+0.057) and yards per pass play (6.3).
Love's individual performances were far from stellar over that stretch, as he earned PFF passing grades of 53.0, 54.0 and 46.7 over the first three weeks before improving to 78.2 against Tampa Bay in Week 4.
Against Chicago, however, Love produced his best performance of the season across several key metrics.
Jordan Love: Week 5 passing metrics and rank
| Metric | Week 5 | NFL rank |
|---|---|---|
| PFF passing grade | 94.5 | 1st |
| Big-time throws | 6 | 1st |
| Big-time throw rate | 17.6% | 1st |
| Yards per attempt | 11.8 | 1st |
| Passing yards | 367 | 2nd |
| NFL passer rating | 137.5 | 2nd |
| EPA per play | 0.46 | 3rd |
Rankings among 29 qualifying quarterbacks with at least 20 dropbacks in Week 5.
Green Bay's passing offense averaged 0.471 EPA per pass play against Chicago, a big jump from its 0.057 mark through the first four games. Meanwhile, Love's 94.5 passing grade marked a 16.3-point increase over his previous season high, while his 367 passing yards ranked second among qualifying quarterbacks in Week 5.
But the most striking aspect of his performance was how he generated that production.
An extraordinary turnaround on deep passes
Few aspects of Love's early-season performance had been more concerning than his production on throws traveling at least 20 yards downfield.
Through four games, Love had completed just four of his 18 deep attempts for 144 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He earned a 41.0 PFF passing grade on those throws, recording two big-time throws against four turnover-worthy plays. And his deep passing attempts accounted for just 11.7% of his total attempts during that stretch.
Jordan Love: Performance on deep passes (20+ yards downfield)
| Metric | Weeks 1-4 | Week 5 |
|---|---|---|
| PFF passing grade | 41.0 | 99.9 |
| Completions/attempts | 4/18 | 6/8 |
| Passing yards | 144 | 258 |
| Passing touchdowns | 0 | 2 |
| Big-time throws | 2 | 6 |
| Turnover-worthy plays | 4 | 0 |
| Deep attempt share | 11.7% | 25.8% |
Those numbers changed dramatically this week. In one game, Love completed more deep passes, generated more deep passing yards and recorded more deep big-time throws than he had across the previous four games combined.
His 258 deep passing yards led all quarterbacks in Week 5, exceeding the next-highest total by 109 yards. Those throws accounted for 70.3% of his 367 passing yards against Chicago, while his deep attempt share climbed to 25.8%.
Love dominates on throws of 30-plus yards
Six of Love's eight deep attempts traveled at least 30 yards downfield, and he completed five of them for 227 yards and both of his touchdowns. He finished with a perfect 158.3 passer rating and a 99.9 PFF passing grade on those throws, without recording a single turnover-worthy play.
Jordan Love: Week 5 passing on throws of 30-plus yards
| Metric | Week 5 |
|---|---|
| PFF passing grade | 99.9 |
| Completions/attempts | 5/6 |
| Completion percentage | 83.3% |
| Passing yards | 227 |
| Passing touchdowns | 2 |
| NFL passer rating | 158.3 |
| Turnover-worthy plays | 0 |
That means 227 of his 258 deep passing yards came on attempts traveling at least 30 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. He repeatedly connected on some of the most difficult throws a quarterback can attempt, combining aggressive downfield passing with very good accuracy.
Love posted a negative completion percentage over expected in each of the first three weeks before improving to +1.3% against Tampa Bay. His +14.5% mark against Chicago was his highest of the season and ranked fourth among qualifying quarterbacks in Week 5. His 90.0% adjusted completion percentage tied for the highest mark among qualifiers, while his +0.62 EPA per non-screen play ranked second.
Six big-time throws establish a new career high
Love's six big-time throws weren't merely the most recorded by any quarterback in Week 5. They also established a new single-game career high. His previous best was five, recorded in Week 10 of the 2023 season. Before Sunday, he had reached four big-time throws in a game on four other occasions: Weeks 13 and 17 of 2023 and Weeks 1 and 13 of 2025.
Jordan Love: Highest single-game big-time throw totals
| Season | Week | Big-time throws |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 5 | 6 |
| 2023 | 10 | 5 |
| 2023 | 13 | 4 |
| 2023 | 17 | 4 |
| 2025 | 1 | 4 |
| 2025 | 13 | 4 |
All six of his big-time throws against Chicago came on attempts traveling at least 20 yards downfield, underscoring how central the deep passing game was to his success. That production also contrasts sharply with his first four games of 2026, when he recorded just two big-time throws on deep attempts.
A performance that stands apart from his early-season struggles
After opening the season with three consecutive PFF passing grades below 55.0, he has now posted marks of 78.2 and 94.5 in successive games. More importantly, his performance against Chicago addressed one of the clearest weaknesses in his early-season production.
Through four games, Love's deep passing stood out as an area for improvement. But against the Bears, he turned that area of his game into Green Bay's primary offensive strength. The six big-time throws established a new personal best, while his 258 deep passing yards and 99.9 deep passing grade led or tied for the lead among quarterbacks in Week 5.
One game doesn't erase the early-season hiccups, but Love's performance against Chicago showed the level of production Green Bay's passing offense can generate when its quarterback consistently connects on high-difficulty throws downfield.
And after four weeks of largely middling offensive efficiency, the Packers finally got a performance that showed just how explosive that passing attack can be.
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