Is Jordan Love The NFL’s Greatest Thanksgiving Performer Of All Time?

GREEN BAY, Wisc. — Green Bay Packers QB Jordan Love has now played in three Thanksgiving games, and he already has an argument for the holiday’s top performer in NFL history.

On Thursday against the Detroit Lions, Love threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns. Most importantly, Green Bay won 31-24.

Jordan Love becomes the first Packers QB since 1950 with 3 wins on Thanksgiving 🦃#GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/PSXJBGy2YV

— NFL+ (@NFLPlus) November 27, 2025

The Age-Old Question When Debating Greatness

Just like when people compare Michael Jordan to LeBron James, those who engage in these conversations have to know whether they prefer longevity or short-term dominance.

Love has played in just three Thanksgiving games. That simply doesn’t stack up to other greats who have reached double-digit games played on the holiday.

However, the conversation starts to get really interesting if you value efficiency over endurance.

To come out here and get a win on Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for all these guys.” 👏

The @packers get the W on Thanksgiving and Jordan Love is named the Madden Thanksgiving MVP! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/uthxehvl99

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 27, 2025

Jordan Love Against The Field

In his three games, Love has 776 yards, nine touchdowns, zero interceptions, a 130 passer rating, and a 3-0 record.

Other greats in the conversation include:

• Tony Romo (10 games): 2,338 yards, 18 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 96.6 passer rating, 6-3 record
• Matthew Stafford (10 games): 3,000 yards, 18 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, 4-6 record
• Troy Aikman (10 games): 2,174 yards, 14 touchdowns, seven interceptions, 5-5 record
• Aaron Rodgers (5 games): 1,469 yards, 10 touchdowns, one interception, 3-2 record
• Peyton Manning (3 games): 734 yards, nine touchdowns, three interceptions, 3-0 record
• Tom Brady (4 games): 1,146 yards, 10 touchdowns, two interceptions, 3-1 record

Looking at any three-game sample size from the players listed, Love probably has them beat. On top of that, no player has the combination of efficiency, accuracy, and winning that Love has.

Now, if Love were to play in 10 Thanksgiving games like some of the other quarterbacks, he would be on pace for 2,586 yards, 30 touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a perfect 10-0 record. That would place him first in touchdowns thrown and second in total yards.

That said, the pace argument isn’t perfect. It’s almost guaranteed that he would lose at least one game and throw at least one pick if he reached the volume of some of the other QBs.

Still, there is a real argument that he is at least on pace to be the greatest Thanksgiving quarterback of all time.

The number of times teams have played on Thanksgiving 🦃

Jacksonville remains the only NFL team who has yet to play during the holiday 😳 pic.twitter.com/3rK0BzA7Hq

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) November 27, 2025

What About Everyone Else?

When you bring non-quarterbacks into the equation, the argument for Love being the best understandably gets smaller.

Players like Jason Witten, Lomas Brown, and Emmitt Smith have all played 10 or more games on Thanksgiving and have accrued enough stats to earn a nod in the conversation.

Because of this, it’s probably too early to crown Love as the NFL’s Thanksgiving King. But he is well on his way.

About Jordan Love

Before his time in the league, the Bakersfield, California native played at USU from 2016 to 2019. During his time with the Aggies, Love threw for 8,600 yards, 60 touchdowns, and 29 interceptions with a completion rate of 61 percent.

In 2020, the Packers traded up to select Love with the No. 26 overall pick in the NFL Draft.

During his rookie campaign, the former USU standout was inactive for each of Green Bay’s games.

Love saw limited action in his second and third seasons with the Packers and continued to serve as the backup to four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. Following the 2022 season, the Packers traded Rodgers to the New York Jets. The Rodgers trade paved the way for Love to be Green Bay’s QB1 in 2023.

Highest paid QB in @NFL HISTORY ✅@jordan3love x @USUFootball pic.twitter.com/i0yyaJYexD

— USU Football (@USUFootball) July 27, 2024

In his first two seasons, Love threw for 606 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions with a 60.2 percent completion rate in 10 games played.

In 2023, Love threw for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He also ran for 247 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Packers to a 9-8 record in the regular season.

In two playoff games, the former USU signal-caller threw for 466 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Love was injured early in 2024, but came back and led the Packers to another Wild Card berth with 3,389 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Green Bay was knocked out in the first game of the postseason by the eventual champion Philadelphia Eagles.

About #LocalsInTheNFL

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Chandler Holt is a co-host of the Jazz Notes podcast, a Locals In The NFL Insider, and Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com. Follow Chandler on X for Utah Jazz and Locals In The NFL updates.

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