Last time I suggested a game from the Green Bay Packers’ past to rewatch, it was the classic contest where Aaron Rodgers showed everyone that he’s a star quarterback.

Jordan Love’s own first home start helped prove he was indeed going to be the Packers’ next franchise QB. In his three seasons as Rodgers’ understudy, we saw only small glimpses of Love. Outside of one spot start against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021 that didn’t go well, and a few nice throws against the Philadelphia Eagles in a relief appearance in 2022, we didn’t know much about the former Utah State signal caller.

However, when Love took over the franchise in 2023, he started in great fashion with a big road win over the rival Chicago Bears. Unfortunately, he followed it with an underwhelming road game against the Atlanta Falcons, where the currently unemployed Desmond Ridder outplayed him.

Things got off to a bad start in Week 3 against the New Orleans Saints, Love’s first home start of his career. But the end of that game marked the beginning of the Jordan Love era in Green Bay.

The Saints came into Green Bay that September day 2-0 after close wins over the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers, a good start to Derek Carr’s tenure in New Orleans. They jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead thanks to an eight-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Packers legend Jimmy Graham. A 76-yard punt return from the Saints followed that up return man Rashid Shaheed that quieted the 78,000 in attendance at Lambeau Field.

The Green Bay offense looked completely rudderless in the first half, racking up a total of 86 yards. A first possession fourth-and-two call that Matt LaFleur decided to go for ended in a turnover on downs, followed by three consecutive drives that ended in punts. Between the pass and ground game, nothing was working for Love and Green Bay’s offense.

Not only was the offense not clicking during the first half, but they were also hurting themselves with penalties. Green Bay was called for an astonishing 11 penalties that cost them a total of 90 yards. Several of those penalties occurred on the offensive side of the ball, stalling any sort of momentum the Packers had tried to muster. Love later admitted that the vibes were low heading into the locker room.

“We went into the locker room at halftime, and we knew it wasn’t good,” Love said. “But at the same time, we knew we were putting some drives together, but penalties and different things-not converting some third downs, were hitting us.”

Things didn’t change much in the third quarter. The Packers put up another zero on the scoreboard, but at least they didn’t allow the Saints to rack up any more points, and they entered the fourth quarter still down three scores. The fact that Carr left with a shoulder injury on a sack also had something to do with that.

That fourth quarter was all about Love’s magic. Entering the final frame down 17-0, Love orchestrated three consecutive scoring drives, starting with an Anders Carlson field goal to cut the lead to 14 with 11 minutes remaining.

Love and the offense awoke out of nowhere. On their first full possession of the fourth quarter, Love connected on a 22-yard pass to Jayden Reed that put the Packers right into Saints territory, followed by a 17-yard pass down the middle to Romeo Doubs. Reed nearly made a circus catch for a 20-yard TD but couldn’t bring it in.

Love ran it in from the one-yard line for his first career rushing touchdown and then hit Samori Toure with a pass to help convert the two-point conversion with 6:58 left on the clock.

On their final drive of the game, Love would connect with Doubs on a beautiful back-shoulder throw for an eight-yard touchdown to tie the game, 17-17. A Carlson extra point, which I might remind you was not a guaranteed thing, gave the Packers an 18-17 lead. The Saints had an opportunity to win after marching down the field and attempting a game-winning field goal. However, it wasn’t to be. The football gods pushed Blake Grupe’s kick wide right, and Love kneeled it out for the win.

Love’s stat line that game wasn’t necessarily anything ultra-impressive. He finished 22 of 44 for 259 yards with one touchdown, one interception, and a 66.4 passer rating. He also added 39 rushing yards with a touchdown on nine attempts.

What was impressive was his poise and his ability to make a play when the Packers needed one most. Like his predecessor, Love put the team on his back and led them to victory. For a young quarterback making his fourth-career start, and first in front of his home crowd, it was a critical moment for his career. Imagine if the Packers had been shut out and dropped to 1-2? You could already see people writing the “bench Jordan Love” narrative.

That game propelled the Packers, the youngest team in the NFL, to a playoff run. In the first round, they defeated the No. 2-seeded Dallas Cowboys in the wild-card round and came oh so close to beating the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round.

Jordan Love might not be Green Bay’s next Hall of Fame quarterback. However, that day, he showed he was worthy to carry the torch into the next decade of Packers football.