SPORTS LINE
The Green Bay Packers.
Jordan Love didn’t need Sunday night’s thumping of the Pittsburgh Steelers to validate his place in Green Bay Packers quarterback lineage, but it sure helped. Love outdueled Aaron Rodgers, dicing up a beleaguered Steelers defense to the tune of 360 yards and three touchdowns on 29-of-37 passing. After a rocky first half, which saw the Packers go three-and-out three times and miss two field goals to trail 16-7 at the break, Love drove a relentless comeback that allowed Green Bay to run away.
The Packers scored 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points to turn a deficit into a blowout and didn’t give Rodgers even a shot to work his late-game magic. The defense did its part to slow Rodgers, but the offense’s ability to drive up and down the field, not punting in the second half, turned the game into a blowout. Love finished with a 134.2 passer rating, the highest of his career. Sunday night marked the QB’s fourth game with multiple passing TDs and zero INTs, the 16th such game of his career; only Patrick Mahomes has more such games (19) in their first 40 starts, per NFL Research.
Love’s near-perfect outing included a streak of 20 consecutive completions stretching from the second to the fourth quarter, tied for the longest streak in a game by a Packers QB with Brett Favre (Week 12, 2007). Setting records playing opposite Rodgers, who Love grew under during his first three seasons in Green Bay, highlighted the quarterback’s breakout campaign. The 26-year-old has been dynamic with the ball, but cut down on the turnovers that plagued him the past couple of seasons. Love is a mixture of both his predecessors: Favre’s gunslinging mentality and penchant for the big play, and Rodgers’ efficiency and accuracy, especially on the move. Love threw 20 completed passes in a row, the second most of any Packer quarterback ever, only surpassed by one, and that was by Bret Favre.
The Milwaukee Brewers.
A week after their season ended with the Dodgers unceremoniously sweeping them out of the NLCS, Pat Murphy and the Brewers are in the reflection stage. The Milwaukee Brewers stunned a lot of MLB fans this season when they emerged as one of the best teams in the game. Milwaukee battled through some early-season struggles and ended the year with the best record in baseball. The Brewers took a series win against the Chicago Cubs in the National League Division Series. With the Brewers returning home for the winter, they’re going to be forced to make some very tough decisions over the next few months. The offseason is typically when the Brewers dominate the most. One change has already taken place.
Thursday, the Milwaukee Brewers shared that left-handed pitcher Connor Thomas has opted to elect free agency after spending one season in the Milwaukee organization. Thomas made the club’s Opening Day roster and was able to make his big-league debut. But he only pitched him two games for the Brewers before he was placed on the Injured List for left elbow arthritis. Thomas underwent left elbow surgery in July. “There are definitely things to take note of,” Murphy said at a season-ending press conference on Thursday. “The day that we lost in Los Angeles, that was my first day of notes— ‘postseason recommendations,’ like, ‘what are things that are apparent here?’ “We didn’t put our best foot forward,” Murphy said. “But there are all sorts of things to learn from it about, how do we get them playing consistently?” These will be things to work on during the off-season.
The Milwaukee Bucks.
Just two games into his 2025-26 season, nine-time All-NBA Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is already making history. The 6-foot-11 superstar has supercharged his team’s renovated 3-and-D roster to an encouraging 2-0 start, thanks to some absolutely insane individual efforts. Antetokounmpo, 30, is now the first player in NBA history to have scored at least a combined 60 points, pulled down at least a combined 30 rebounds, and dished out at least a combined 10 assists through his first two games. Antetokounmpo scored 31 points, pulled down 20 rebounds, and passed for seven assists. It marked his third-ever game of notching at least 30 points, 20 rebounds, and seven assists. He is one of only eight players in the history of the NBA to put those numbers three or more times, and one of only two active players (behind only three-time MVP Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic). Could Antetokounmpo be in line for a third MVP trophy? It’s certainly conceivable if the Bucks keep winning at a high level. This Milwaukee squad is more athletic and defensively oriented than it has been in years, and its construction seems to serve as a surprisingly effective fit around Antetokounmpo. But unlike star-studded Bucks teams of recent vintage, there is no second star to take on ball-handling duties in the games where Antetokounmpo sits.
