FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The way Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love played in Sunday's win over the New England Patriots left some of his teammates in awe and others speechless.
But just about everyone in the victorious visitors locker room at Gillette Stadium came to a consensus on one thing: Love's performance should put him in the middle of the MVP conversation at the midway point of the season.
"I would agree with that," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. "He's standing in there, he's taking hits and he's still dealing the ball."
Love's numbers in the 45-27 dismantling of the Patriots tell only part of the story. He completed 23 of 29 passes for 327 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a 13-yard touchdown.
But a deeper dive into his performance tells the bigger story.
Love completed 6 of 8 passes on balls thrown 20 or more yards in the air. Those totaled 235 yards and a touchdown. It was the second time this season he completed six such deep throws in a game. No other quarterback in the NFL has done that in any game this season, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Love was 11-of-11 against the Patriots' blitzes, tying the most completions against the blitz without an incompletion on the road since ESPN began tracking that in 2006.
All of that, and Love didn't even play most of the fourth quarter. LaFleur put in backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor with nine minutes left in the game.
When Love walked off the field, he did so with chants of "MVP, MVP" coming from the Packers' fans at Gillette Stadium in response to one of the best games of Love's career.
"Man, it's definitely up there," Love said. "It felt great, you know. So we'll look at it, but it definitely felt, you know, like just a real fun game to be a part of. You know what I mean, when everything's flowing, we're putting up points and everybody's making plays. It's definitely very fun to be a part of."
Love has multiple passing/rushing touchdowns in all nine games this season, the second-longest streak in Packers history. Aaron Rodgers did so in the first 15 games of the 2011 season on the way to winning MVP.
"I feel like saying that he's balling is an understatement," guard Laken Tomlinson said. "It's amazing, I can't find the words. It's great having someone like that to block for. Whenever you look up and see those throws, you know they're going to get completed."
Running back Josh Jacobs, who watched most of the game from the sideline after suffering a broken finger, said this about Love's performance: "Oh my goodness."
He used the same three words -- "Oh my goodness" -- in reaction to the performances of receivers Christian Watson (seven catches for 171 yards and a touchdown) and Matthew Golden (10 catches for 164 yards and a touchdown).
Love did much of the damage against Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez, a second-team All-Pro just two seasons ago. He allowed 187 yards in coverage, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, and became the only defender since at least 2018 to allow more than 80 receiving yards to two different players in the same game.
"They got the best of me today," Gonzalez said.
Seven of those receptions for 105 yards were allowed to Golden, and Watson caught three for 82 yards against him.
"He came out and ran good routes, ran the routes they had in the game plan, and Jordan Love was able to get him the ball," Gonzalez said of Golden. "I've got to be able to finish and make those plays. I'm right there, I've just got to make those plays. So, it's not the end of the world. I had a bad game. I'm not shaken up by it. I'm not too worried about it. I'll move on and be ready for next week."
Previously, Gonzalez had allowed just 196 yards receiving in his past six games combined.
"When your best players don't play good, you don't have much of a chance in this league," Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said. "So, we expect a lot more. He expects a lot more. We need more from him and everybody else. It wasn't just him. Again, we got to be able to coach and be prepared, and then we have to execute. Just like it is every single week when we don't win, it's all of us, and it starts with me."
ESPN's Mike Reiss contributed to this report.