To celebrate Aaron Rodgers’ first game against the Green Bay Packers, Jordan Love played like prime Rodgers for much of the second half.
Love hasn’t yet reached the level of Brett Favre or Rodgers in Packers lore, but he has played well in stretches like Sunday night. The Packers shook off a lethargic first half to pound Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second half to win 35-25. They improved to 5-1-1 with the victory. It was a complete mismatch after halftime.
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Rodgers had a good first half and then the Packers’ defense started to get to him in the second half. That helped the comeback. Love heated up in the second half, leading Green Bay to three touchdowns in their first three drives of the second half. At one point Love had a string of 20 straight completions, tying a franchise record set by Favre, according to NBC’s broadcast.
Love has been a good quarterback for Green Bay since taking over for Rodgers. To reach the level of Favre or Rodgers, he’ll need to get to a Super Bowl. If the Packers can bottle up what they showed in the second half Sunday night, they have a chance to get there.
Steelers take early lead
Rodgers was the story of the pregame buildup and the focus of the broadcast, and he came out with a good first half. While that made for a good plot, the real story of the first half was the Packers continuing to underwhelm. And then the Packers shook that off for a dominant second half.
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The Packers looked like a great team in their first two games, but were fairly average in the weeks that followed. That continued in the first half. The offense had a good drive to score the game’s first touchdown, which went to tight end Tucker Kraft, but there wasn’t much noise after that. Love was just decent and the rushing game was not a factor. The Packers’ defense struggled too, with cornerback Keisean Nixon having a rough half in particular. Nixon had two penalties that extended drives, got turned around on a 45-yard catch by Roman Wilson and was beat for a touchdown by DK Metcalf that gave Pittsburgh a 16-7 lead late in the first half. The Packers missed a field goal on the last play of the half, wrapping up the disappointment. Rodgers was 11-of-15 passing for 102 yards in the first half against his former team. The Steelers were cruising.
After acquiring Micah Parsons right before the season started, the Packers destroyed the Lions and Commanders in their first two games. They weren’t terrible after that but they hadn’t replicated that early-season level either. Not being able to move the ball consistently on a vulnerable Steelers defense, while Rodgers looked close to vintage form, wasn’t a good way to start Sunday night.
Then the Packers decided to ruin Rodgers’ revenge game against his former team.
Packers come back
The Packers got blazing hot in the second half. It got going when Love completed a ridiculous pass that was thrown up for grabs and Kraft came down with, and then Kraft started rolling through the Steelers defense for 57 yards. That was part of a 90-yard drive for a touchdown that got the Packers back in the game.
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Green Bay put together another long drive, with receiver Christian Watson picking up 33 yards on a pass from Love in his first game back from an ACL tear last season, and Josh Jacobs sealed it with a touchdown run. The 2-point conversion put the Packers ahead 22-19.
On the Steelers’ first play after Jacobs’ touchdown, Parsons sacked Rodgers. By that point the Packers defense had settled in and was on its way to a strong second half. Kraft scored his second touchdown of the night, which put him at 143 yards, and a game that looked like it might be a Pittsburgh rout had completely flipped.
The Packers’ upside has been shown in stretches this season. When they’re on, like they were after halftime on Sunday night, they look like one of the NFL’s best teams. It’s a level Packers fans are familiar with, thanks to many years with Rodgers, and Favre before him. Love hopes to create a similar legacy.
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Ryan Young
The Washington Commanders and Kansas City Chiefs will wrap up the Week 8 slate tomorrow night in Missouri. Marcus Mariota will get the start for the Commanders, too, with Jayden Daniels still sidelined.
Ryan Young
Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have completed their huge second-half surge to grab the 10-point win. Despite a solid start, Aaron Rodgers couldn’t quite lead the Steelers to a win over his former team.
Ryan Young
Roman Wilson somehow made a great grab in the end zone and managed to hang on before losing the ball to keep Pittsburgh alive. The touchdown was confirmed after a review, too.
The Steelers failed to convert the two-point attempt, though, despite getting two looks at it. So the Packers’ lead is 35-25 now with 2:07 left. They’ll need a lot of help here to pull this comeback off.
Ryan Young
They couldn’t find the end zone after the Gainwell fumble, but another field goal will do.
Brandon McManus made a 25-yarder, so the Packers lead now 35-19 with 3:59 left in the game. They’ve scored on all five of their possessions in the second half.
Ryan Young
Well, this should just about do it. Kenneth Gainwell had a catch in the middle of the field, but he just lost it. That fumble gave the Packers great field position to push their lead even more with about five minutes left here.
Ryan Young
Jordan Love got the Packers into the red zone, but they stalled out after some repeated pressure forced him to throw a few passes away. Brandon McManus got this one to go from 28, though, so Green Bay is up by 13 now.
Jason Owens
You can’t do this.
Steelers receiver DK Metcalf poked Packers linebacker Quay Walker through the facemask and drew a 15-yard penalty. That set the Steelers up in third-and-17, and they’ve punted again with 8:56 remaining.
Green Bay maintains a 29-19 lead, and the wheels are falling off for the Steelers.
Jason Owens
Tucker Kraft is making the most of National Tight Ends Day.
The Green Bay playmaker just caught a slant pass from Jordan Love and sprinted 24 yards through the Pittsburgh defense for a touchdown. That’s his second score of the night. He set up another Green Bay touchdown with a 59-yard catch and a fourth-down conversion on the same drive.
Kraft’s up to 143 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches. Green Bay extends its lead to 29-19 in a dominant second half.
Jason Owens
This is why the Packers paid Micah Parsons.
The All-Pro pass rusher sacked Aaron Rodgers on the first play of a Pittsburgh drive. Three downs later, Pittsburgh punted after losing three yards on its possession deep in its own territory.
The Packers take over in Steelers territory with a 22-19 lead after the punt and a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty for a post-punt scuffle.
Jason Owens
Josh Jacobs paid off on Christian Watson’s big play.
The Packers running back found the right edge for a 3-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. A successful 2-point conversion has the Packers on top, 22-19.
Jason Owens
Christian Watson made his first big play in his first game back from an ACL tear. He caught a 33-yard pass form Jordan Love to set Green Bay up in the red zone at the end of the third quarter.
Green Bay will have a chance to take the lead on the other side of the break.
Jason Owens
Chris Boswell is showing off his leg tonight. His third 50-plus-yard field goal of the night has extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 19-14 after a failed conversion on third-and-10.
This one went for 56 yards. He previously hit from 56 and 50.
Jason Owens
Officials initially called this play a fumble on Aaron Rodgers. But they got the call right on expedited review after determining that Rodgers “threw” the ball forward toward the ground to avoid the sack.
Even better for the Steelers? They ruled that there was a receiver in the area, and there was no intentional grounding — simply an incomplete pass.
Jason Owens
An ideal start to the second half for Green Bay. The Packers forced a Pittsburgh 3-and-out to start the third quarter, then drove 90 yards for a Savion Williams touchdown on a screen pass form Jordan Love.
But Tucker Kraft set up the score. The big-play tight end put Green Bay in scoring position with a 59-yard catch-and-rumble on third down. He then converted with a catch on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive in the red zone. He’s up to five catches for 117 yards and a touchdown on the night.
Pittsburgh’s lead is cut to 16-14.
Jason Owens
Officials missed a clear offside penalty on the Packers, and the Steelers have punted after a failed third-down conversion.
Aaron Rodgers thought he had a free play and looked deep downfield on third-and-8 for an incomplete pass. But officials missed the penalty, and the incompletion set up the Pittsburgh punt. A correctly called penalty wouldn’t have resulted in first down, but it would have given the Steelers another shot on third-and-3.
Rodgers, understandably, was not pleased.
Sun, October 26, 2025 at 10:04 PM EDT
Jason Owens
Pittsburgh has a 16-7 lead and will start the third quarter with the ball first. Pressure’s immediately on the Green Bay defense to keep things close.
Sun, October 26, 2025 at 9:57 PM EDT
Sun, October 26, 2025 at 9:53 PM EDT
Sun, October 26, 2025 at 9:48 PM EDT
Kari Anderson
After a long gain, the Packers move into field goal range thanks to a facemask penalty on T.J. Watt, who does not look pleased about the call. That, and another pass from Jordan Love, leaves Green Bay kicker Brandon McManus with a 44-yard field goal attempt with two seconds remaining the half. But McManus’ kick goes wide right, and the Packers will head into the locker room still down 16-7.