PITTSBURGH (AP) \u2014 Jordan Love spent three years absorbing what he could from Aaron Rodgers. Footwork. Cadence. Throwing motion. Film study. The list of things Love gleaned from his mentor goes on and on, every last item invaluable in Love\u2019s development.<\/p>\n
And seemingly every last one of them was on display Sunday night, when the Green Bay quarterback of the present and future outdueled the Green Bay quarterback of the past and served notice he\u2019s ready to start writing a legend of his own.<\/p>\n
Looking every bit as good as Rodgers in his prime, Love passed for 360 yards and three touchdowns as Green Bay raced past Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers 35-25 in what in many ways felt and looked like an official passing of the torch.<\/p>\n
Yes, Love knew there would be considerable hype around Rodgers\u2019 first-ever game against the Packers since being nudged aside for Love in early 2023. While Love admitted there was a little more pressure this week than usual, he hardly looked bothered while completing 29 of 35, including a franchise record-tying 20 straight spanning the end of the first half and the vast majority of the second.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mindset was just trying to come out here and focus on getting that win, trying to block all that extra stuff out and just be the player I need to be,\u201d Love said.<\/p>\n
That player looks plenty good enough to keep Green Bay (5-1-1) in contention in a wide-open NFC. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe showed why he\u2019s the (successor),\u201d Packers defensive end Micah Parsons said. \u201cI mean, he\u2019s the up-and-coming. Like Jay Love, when I talking about when I was coming here, I was like, \u2018I know they got a quarterback.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Yes they do. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe was on fire,\u201d Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we kept wanting to throw the football.\u201d<\/p>\n
That and the fact the Steelers (4-3) had trouble stopping it. Green Bay piled up 454 yards of total offense and after a promising first half, the 41-year-old Rodgers and the rest of Pittsburgh\u2019s offense couldn\u2019t keep pace.<\/p>\n
Rodgers, who won four MVPs and a Super Bowl in 18 seasons with the Packers before being traded to the Jets in the spring of 2023, completed 24 of 36 passes for 219 yards and two scores but couldn\u2019t deliver the kind of magic that he has summoned on occasion in his 21st year.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisappointed I didn\u2019t play better (and) that we didn\u2019t play better, especially in the second half,\u201d Rodgers said.<\/p>\n
Given the way Love was slinging it, it might have been Rodgers to keep pace even while at his best. Love completed his last four passes of the first half and his first 16 of the second, two of them for scores, as the Packers erased a nine-point deficit to win at Pittsburgh for the first time since 1970.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great for Jordan,\u201d LaFleur said. \u201cJordan\u2019s worked his (butt) off to get here. He was patient throughout the process, throughout the journey, and he took advantage of the opportunity, he really did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tight end Tucker Kraft caught seven passes for a career-high 143 yards and two touchdowns. Christian Watson added four receptions for 85 yards in his return from a torn ACL he suffered in the 2024 regular-season finale. <\/p>\n
Josh Jacobs ran for just 33 yards, but his 3-yard scoring sprint on the first play of the fourth quarter put the Packers up for good as Pittsburgh\u2019s defense stumbled yet again, nine days after being carved up by Joe Flacco in a loss<\/a> at Cincinnati.<\/p>\n Wearing throwback jerseys honoring Pittsburgh\u2019s inaugural team<\/a> in 1933 \u2014 when the club was known as the Pirates \u2014 the Steelers turned back the clock in a way that felt less like nostalgia and more like \u201chere we go again.\u201d<\/p>\n Given an opportunity to strengthen its hold on the underwhelming AFC North, Pittsburgh instead saw the NFL\u2019s highest-paid defense struggle to keep Love and the Packers in check. The Steelers were pushed around repeatedly over the final 30 minutes as the Packers firmly grabbed control.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve just got to be better in all areas and it starts first with the positions that we put players in and so as coaches, as players, as all of us, we own it,\u201d Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be better. We have to be.\u201d<\/p>\n