Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is off to a hot start to the 2025 season. Whether it’s from a clean pocket on third down, or in the red zone — whatever you ask of him, he’s been producing at a high level.

Through four weeks, Love ranks 1st in Adjusted EPA per play, 5th in success rate, 3rd in CPOE, 11th in air yards and 5th in PFF passing grade. That’s even more impressive considering Jayden Reed, Christian Watson, Zach Tom, Anthony Belton and Aaron Banks have all missed at least one game this year.

Still, injuries along the offensive line haven’t helped, and they were a key reason Matt LaFleur leaned on more conservative passing game plans against the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys. For context, Love’s average depth of target was 12.9 yards in weeks one and two, but that number dropped to just 3.8 yards over the last two games, including only 5.9 yards against a bad Cowboys passing defense.

It made sense for LaFleur to play it safe against Myles Garrett and Cleveland’s defensive front, but Love attempted just one pass of 10+ yards all game — and it came in the fourth quarter. You can’t win in the NFL without at least trying to stretch the field.

Yes, the Browns’ front seven was dominating the line of scrimmage, but that’s when you adjust, keep extra blockers in, have both tight ends chip and buy Love enough time for a shot. The bottom line: you have to test defenses vertically, and Green Bay never did that against Cleveland.

In week four against Dallas, early in the game, the Packers faced a fourth-and-two at the midfield line. Rather than keeping the offense on the field with a quarterback who was heating up, they chose to punt. LaFleur later said that “some guys” wanted to go for it, but he had no plans to, worried that a failed attempt would put Dallas in Brandon Aubrey’s range.

The Cowboys’ defense got off to a historically poor start this season. Entering week four, they ranked among the bottom five in EPA per play, total EPA, success rate and EPA per pass. They allowed the most passing yards in the league and were 27th in sack rate. Yet LaFleur still couldn’t trust his offense to gain two yards against one of the worst passing defenses in modern NFL history.

On their lone possession in overtime, Green Bay had 4:40 on the clock. They converted a fourth-and-six with just over three minutes left, faced no third downs until the final six seconds, and somehow targeted the end zone only once. LaFleur spammed RPOs throughout the drive, despite having a quarterback who ended the game with 31-of-43 for 337 yards and three touchdowns — becoming the first Packers player in history to post 30+ completions, 300+ passing yards, three touchdown passes, zero interceptions and 25+ rushing yards in a single game.

Last year, the Packers leaned on a run-first attack with Josh Jacobs — the heartbeat of the offense and arguably their best player. However, that has not been the case in 2025. Entering Sunday, Jacobs ranked 14th in rushing yards. Among players with at least 25 carries, Jacobs sat at 22nd in EPA per rush, 31st in total EPA, 36th in yards per carry, 16th in success rate and 29th in explosive run rate. This year’s offense is built to throw first, and the ball needs to be in the hands of their best player, who is currently Love.

Sure, Jacobs’ stat line is more a reflection of injuries along the Packers’ offensive line than a drop in his own production. When the line struggles, the running game suffers, and that has been evident early this season. However, the passing game has simply been on another level.

After four games, Love ranked first in total EPA, passing EPA, average depth of target and PFF passing grades against the blitz. From a clean pocket, he completed 87.2% of throws, averaged 10.7 yards per attempt and had a 93.9 PFF grade with a 140.3 passer rating.

On third down, Love led the league with 327 passing yards and 18 first downs, ranked second with three touchdown passes, averaged 9.3 yards per attempt and had a 110.1 passer rating, adding three scrambles for 49 yards. In the red zone, he led all passers with 16 completions, 115 passing yards and eight touchdown passes, while ranking second with five touchdowns inside the 10-yard line.

Love ranks as a top-four quarterback in nearly every advanced metric, and Green Bay needs to let him sling the football. The offense is at its best when Love drops back and stretches the field vertically, and they need to get back to that. Who knows if Banks and Tom will be available for week six against the Cincinnati Bengals, but LaFleur is one of the game’s best offensive minds — he has to find a way to fix pass protection and give Love time to make plays.