How well Jordan Love plays out of the gate will decide if he is the Green Bay Packers' future.
A soft start to the Green Bay Packers' 2023 regular-season schedule is both a blessing and a curse for their new starting quarterback Jordan Love.
FOX Sports' Colin Cowherd outlined how easy the Packers' first five games are before their bye week. They may have their first two games of the season on the road, but those contests are at the rebuilding arch rival Chicago Bears and the not-quite-there Atlanta Falcons with absolutely no home-field advantage whatsoever. The Packers have a fantastic shot to begin the season out 2-0.
After that, Green Bay will host the middling New Orleans Saints before their first big challenge of the year when the up-and-coming Detroit Lions come to town. The Packers will then have to fly across the country to take on the lowly Las Vegas Raiders in front of what could be a 50-50 home crowd split before their bye week. Again, all five of these games are very winnable for the Packers.
However, anything worse than a 3-2 record out of Love should be viewed as a massive red flag.
Let's take a look and see if Green Bay has any shot to keep this thing afloat with Love taking over.
Jordan Love must have a hot start to keep Green Bay Packers' playoff hopes alive
Once Green Bay comes out of its early-season bye, good luck identifying easy wins the rest of the way. While the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams stunk to high heaven last season, those down years might be anomalies. Although the Minnesota Vikings may not have luck on their side during this regular season, their regression to the mean is probably not going to be all that much.
After that, the Packers are facing a lot of playoff-caliber teams from a year ago. From the Kansas City Chiefs, to the Los Angeles Chargers, to the New York Giants, there is not a lot of easy games left. One could argue for the home date vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, at the Carolina Panthers or vs. the Bears as winnable ones, but this is why the Packers need to be at least 3-2 out of the gate.
Of their first five games, Green Bay needs to beat Chicago and New Orleans, as well as split between Atlanta and Las Vegas. Detroit is the best team the Packers will play before the bye, so I can understand them falling to the Lions. Chicago was the worst team in the league last year, and you are getting New Orleans and Derek Carr on the road at your place. That is why it is those two.
Although having a great fanbase to bring with them on the road to places like Atlanta and Las Vegas is huge, the Falcons are a contender to win the NFC South, believe it or not, and the Raiders have the more proven veteran quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo. You also may need to factor in the Falcons potentially not knowing they are bad yet when the Packers come to town early on as well.
Ultimately, it is all about Love and the Packers offense playing with confidence as soon as possible in a post-Aaron Rodgers world. While Green Bay was nothing to write home about in Rodgers' first year as the starter in 2008, he did won a Super Bowl two years after that. Needless to say, Love faces about as much pressure as Rodgers did taking over for Brett Favre. They're counting on him.
We may know by Halloween if Love is the answer or not to the quarterback position in Green Bay.