It took two bad quarters for Jordan Love’s NFL MVP odds to take a bad turn

Heading into the Green Bay Packers’ high-profile Week 15 matchup with the red-hot Denver Broncos, Jordan Love had every reason in the world to feel confident about facing one of the toughest defensive units in the entire NFL.

Two games earlier, the third-year starter had earned a 124.2 passer rating, his third-highest mark of the season, after completing 18 of 30 passes for 234 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions in a 31-24 win over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

And after a nice 10-day break, he once again showed out, this time in a 28-21 victory over the Chicago Bears that moved the Packers into first place in the NFC North, completing 17 of 25 passes for another 234 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, thus earning his fourth-highest passer rating of the year at 120.7.

This performance also vaulted Love into the top three as it pertains to NFL MVP odds, as he entered the contest against Denver at +1000, trailing only the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford (-180) and the New England Patriots’ Drake Maye (+200).

As the world watched, however, Love, after a hot start, struggled down the stretch this past Sunday, throwing a pair of second-half interceptions in the Packers’ 34-26 loss to the Broncos, who upped their winning streak to a league-high 11.

Jordan Love is likely out of the NFL MVP race entering the final three weeks

With the way things played out, the 27-year-old saw his MVP odds take a massive hit. While Love only fell one spot into a tie for fourth with the QB who just beat him, Bo Nix, his new number at DraftKings tells you everything you need to know about what oddsmakers think of his chances.

• Matthew Stafford: -300
• Drake Maye: +425
• Josh Allen: +550
• Bo Nix: +7500
• Jordan Love: +7500

See what we mean? That’s oddsmakers saying he’s out of the race. It’s not likely he was going to win anyway, given the things Stafford, Maye, and Allen have done, but he undoubtedly deserved the consideration he was starting to get.

As mentioned, Love got off to a hot start against the Broncos, completing 17 of 22 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown in the first half, also leading three drives that resulted in field goals to help Green Bay to a 16-14 halftime lead.

But the second half was a different story. With the Broncos bringing more pressure, the Utah State alum connected on just seven of his 18 throws for 61 yards, and, as mentioned, tossed a pair of interceptions while also taking three sacks, the last two of which came in a three-play stretch during the Packers’ penultimate drive that resulted in a turnover on downs.

Rough outings happen for every quarterback, and this was easily one of the worst he’s had all year, as reflected by his season-low 68.3 passer rating.

But while the performance may have knocked Love out of the NFL MVP conversation, he’s still having an absolutely fantastic campaign overall, ranking 13th in completion percentage (66.4), seventh in passing yards (3,304), tied for fifth in TD passes (23).

He’s also thrown just six interceptions, which is tied for the third-fewest among all quarterbacks who have started at least 10 games. Love also continues to lead the league in total EPA (120.47) and EPA/play (0.24), and his 89.3 overall PFF grade ranks second only to Stafford’s 93.3.

And who knows? If Stafford, Maye, and Allen struggle over the next few weeks, and Love can lead the Packers to the NFC North title and one of the top seeds in the NFL without the help of Micah Parsons on the defensive side of the ball, perhaps we’ll see his MVP odds once again take a turn in the other direction.