Locals in the NFL: Jordan Love, Packers fall to Falcons as early-season concerns grow
Sep 24, 2026, 10:35 PM
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 24: Jordan Love #10 of the Green Bay Packers throws a pass against the Atlanta Falcons during the second quarter of the game at Lambeau Field on September 24, 2026 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, WI – Three games into the 2026 season, Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have several problems to fix after a 35-14 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
Love threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns, but he spent much of the night under pressure behind an offensive line that allowed 18 quick pressures. The result was another uneven performance from a Green Bay offense still searching for rhythm.
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“Looking at the game tonight, it’s frustrating,” Love said during his postgame news conference. “There’s nothing around it. I’m frustrated. I look back at what I can do better as the quarterback of this team, as the leader of this team. To start the season, it’s not great, and it’s only up from here.”
Green Bay had eight possessions through three quarters and came away with little to show for them: five punts, a turnover on downs, a missed field goal, and one first-quarter touchdown pass from Love to Christian Watson that tied the game at 7.
Matthew Golden gets his first TD of the season! pic.twitter.com/jgYaZWCBAp
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) September 25, 2026
Atlanta built a 27-7 lead early in the fourth quarter before Love helped the Packers put together their best drive of the night. He completed 6 of 10 passes on a 10-play, 76-yard possession, capping it with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Matthew Golden.
But Green Bay’s final chance ended when Love threw his only interception of the night, sealing another frustrating result for a team trying to avoid an early-season slide.
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About Jordan Love
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love entered the 2026 NFL season with 11,535 career passing yards and 83 touchdowns across three seasons as a starter — and a trajectory that has made him one of the league’s most efficient passers.
A Bakersfield, California, native, Love played at Utah State from 2017 to 2019 after redshirting in 2016. In three seasons with the Aggies, he threw for 8,600 yards, 60 touchdowns and 29 interceptions with a 61 percent completion rate.
The Packers traded up to select Love with the No. 26 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. He was inactive for every Green Bay game as a rookie.
Love saw limited action in his second and third seasons, serving as the backup to four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. Over those two years, he threw for 606 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions with a 60.2 percent completion rate in 10 games.
In 2023, Green Bay paved the way for Love to take over as the starter by trading Rodgers to the New York Jets. Love responded with a career-high 4,159 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in his first season as the full-time starter. He added 247 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground as the Packers finished 9-8 in the regular season.
Love carried that momentum into the postseason, throwing for 466 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions in two playoff games before Green Bay was eliminated by the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round.
An early-season knee injury slowed Love in 2024, but he returned to lead the Packers to another wild-card berth, finishing with 3,389 yards, 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 15 starts. Green Bay was eliminated in the first round by the eventual champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Love started 15 games for the second consecutive year in 2025, posting nearly identical numbers: 3,381 yards and 23 touchdowns while cutting his interceptions nearly in half to six — good for a career-best 101.2 passer rating.
Green Bay Packers (1-2)
- Jordan Love, QB, Utah State: Starting quarterback completed 28-of-53 passes for 312 yards, two touchdowns and an interception with four sacks taken
- Chris Brooks, RB, BYU: Reserve running back caught one pass for four yards.
Atlanta Falcons (1-2)
- No locals on the active roster
About Locals in the NFL
For over five years, KSL Sports has covered NFL players with ties to the state of Utah.
Whether they attended Utah or BYU or grew up in the Beehive State, we keep you up to date on how the locals are performing on the biggest stage.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in the NFL, Locals in MLB and the Utah State Aggies. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
Parts of this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team.
