Taking a lens to how the two QBs have performed thus far this season and what the media is saying about the upcoming matchup.
We are three days out from Houston’s second NFC North matchup and the anticipation is building around the media as two young, elite QBs look to meet for the first time. The Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud and Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love took the league by storm last season and have started their 2024 campaigns off to almost equally hot starts. While the playoff implications are not overwhelming, this game will examine where each of the teams stand when facing playoff-caliber opponents. Both teams have suffered losses to the remarkable Minnesota Vikings, while the Packers lost a hotly contested matchup to the Eagles in Brazil.
Let’s take a look at the statistical analysis first of these two QBs through six weeks. Unfortunately, Love’s ankle injury at the end of the Eagles game Week One hampers the one-to-one comparison, but we can look at the percentages as well.
Love has actually been one of the least efficient QBs in the league, ranking 31st out of 40 QBs this season. Stroud is the ninth in this category. Another category Love reluctantly leads the league in is interception; his six picks are tied for second most in the NFL. However, Love’s 12 TDs puts him as the third highest in the league and by far the most per game with three TDs per contest.
One metric drastically in Love’s favor is that he’s only taken four sacks through four games. Stroud has been pummeled 17 times.
An interesting comparison is looking at how both QBs attacked the Minnesota Vikings in their respective losses
First off…. good lord Jordan Love threw the ball 54 times. Granted, the Packers fell behind by 28 points before halftime, but if there’s a game to point to as an efficiency flaw for Love, it’s this game. Both QBs were picked off throwing the ball deep over the middle against the Vikings. Love and Stroud were also much more effective throwing the ball closer to the line of scrimmage.
Stroud, when plotted on a chart like this, seems extremely more systematic and limited than Love. Love truly spread the ball out and didn’t exhibit any habits or limitations. Stroud on the other hand presented three groupings, which if you evaluate his NextGen Stats charts does appear to be the case.
When listening to the NFL on ESPN hosts, they discuss how Stroud benefits from the presence of Joe Mixon. What they don’t parallel is how Jordan Love thrives from Josh Jacobs. Jacobs isn’t having a world-beating year, but his 4.3 yards per carry is one of his more efficient averages in his career.
.@stephenasmith: “I just have a slightly greater belief in C.J. Stroud than I do in Jordan Love on a week-to-week basis.”@danorlovsky7: “Well you’re wrong again.” pic.twitter.com/QfLAROazbd
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 17, 2024
Former Texans QB Dan Orlovsky believes “Jordan has the best situation this week because of (Nico Collins being out)”, but he does “like C.J. the player more”. I’ll agree with that statement. Houston’s inability to properly protect Stroud combined with the injury to WR Nico Collins caps the Texans potency on offense. Meanwhile, the Packers know how to protect Love and have just about as healthy an offense as there is in the league. Playing in Green Bay and with the injuries as they are, Houston may be at a disadvantage come Sunday, but I’ll take Stroud’s capabilities over Love any day.