'Balling' Jordan Love wows teammates with big performance at Patriots

The Green Bay Packers defeated the New England Patriots 45-27 at Gillette Stadium on Sunday in a game that was functionally over by the third quarter. Jordan Love delivered what he called "definitely up there" with the best game he has ever played, throwing for 372 yards and three touchdowns while adding a rushing touchdown within the first two minutes. According to Channel 3000, the performance drew "MVP! MVP!" chants from the crowd. Love completed passes to a receiving duo of Christian Watson and Matthew Golden, who combined to overwhelm the Patriots secondary.

Patriots All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez had the worst performance of his pro career, according to Defector. Next Gen Stats showed Gonzalez allowed 10 catches for 187 receiving yards, the most of his career and the third-most by any player this season. He had surrendered only 196 yards across his first six games combined. On Green Bay's second touchdown, Gonzalez and teammate Marcus Jones both covered Watson, leaving Golden wide open. Late in the third quarter, Gonzalez over-leveraged toward the outside against Watson, who ran a skinny post and "essentially walked into the end zone" to make the score 40-14. "I mean, they just got the best of me today," Gonzalez said afterward. "This is pro football. They got good receivers like every team. So, they got the best of me today. Move on from it and be ready for next week."

Head coach Mike Vrabel was more pointed: "When your best players don't play good, you don't have much of a chance in this league. So, we expect a lot more. He expects a lot more. We need more from him and everybody else."

The Packers' previously last-ranked rushing attack gained 129 yards on the ground, nearly double their season average. Meanwhile, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye regressed to early-season form, throwing three interceptions. His first pass of the game was intercepted, setting up Love's rushing touchdown. Maye's receivers were limited with A.J. Brown injured, Romeo Doubs on injured reserve until at least Week 12, and DeMario Douglas the only consistent target with five catches for 102 yards. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson suffered a knee injury in the third quarter and was ruled out, leaving the Patriots without their top two backs after TreVeyon Henderson was already sidelined with "a series of unexplained neurological symptoms that required hospitalization."

New England trailed only 24-14 at halftime but gave up 18 points in the third quarter. The loss drops the Patriots to 2-4 against teams above .500 this season. Their schedule toughens considerably starting with a Week 10 game against the Detroit Lions in Munich, followed by the Bills, Vikings, Chiefs, and Broncos before Week 17.