Jordan Love promises a Packers bounce back after painful loss to Giants

Jordan Love and the Packers had their late-season run come to an abrupt end Monday night in the Meadowlands. But the Green Bay quarterback promises the team knows how to deal with it.

“It’s the same thing we’ve talked about all season,” Love told reporters in post game. “How do we bounce back? How do we respond? Showing up to work next week with a clean slate, ready to go, get ready for Tampa Bay.”

“Obviously we’re a team that’s been in this situation,” Love said. “We’ve lost some tough games and been able to bounce back. We’ll be able to bounce back next week.”

The Packers had been stringing together wins over some of the toughest teams in the NFL. They beat the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving at Ford Field, then knocked off the Chiefs, the defending Super Bowl champs at Lambeau. Losing a game in December to the Giants in New Jersey wasn’t on the to-do list. After all, under coach Matt Lafleur, the Packers hadn’t lost a December game since 2019.

Walk-off field goals probably hurt just a bit more.

.@EliManning was loving it 😊

📺: ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/VSefWnucpT

— New York Giants (@Giants) December 12, 2023

A win over the Giants would have allowed the Packers some playoff breathing room with four games to play in the regular season. Instead, they fell to 6-7. The record places them in a five-way tie with the Rams, Seahawks, Falcons and Saints for the seventh and final spot. Plus, the Packers loss puts them only a game ahead of two teams initially left for dead — the Giants and Bears.

The 49ers are the only sure thing right now. That’s because San Francisco became the first team to clinch a playoff spot. The 49ers are aiming for the top overall seed. And they currently own the tiebreakers over both the Cowboys and Eagles.

Meanwhile, the Packers do have hold of No. 7 because of tie breakers. They own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Rams (No. 8). And they also sport a better conference record than the Falcons.

Now, the Packers must immediately dismiss what happened at MetLife Stadium. That’s because there’s no extra time to sulk. Everyone will bein a hurry on a short week. With college football off until the bowl games, Saturday now is open for the NFL. The Packers host the Tampa Bay Bucs this Saturday. Tampa and Green Bay are both 6-7 teams. But the Bucs’ playoff picture is a lot brighter because they’re in first place in the NFC South. It’s why they’d currently quality for the playoffs with the No. 4 seed.

Still, the Packers probably should at least acknowledge to themselves what happened against rookie Tommy DeVito and his surging Giants. New York owned a 21-13 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Love helped cut the deficit by three when he led the Packers on a 54-yard field goal drive. Then Green Bay went ahead with 1 minute, 33 seconds to play. That’s when Love found Malik Heath for a six-yard touchdown.

But DeVito brought back the Giants. His 32-yard pass to Wan’Dale Robinson set up Randy Bullock’s field goal as time expired.