Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love led his team to a win over the Lions on Thanksgiving. (David Dermer, Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

It doesn't take a Joshua Dobbs, er, rocket scientist to identify the hottest quarterback among the seven NFC teams that are 6-6 or 5-7 and still jockeying for three playoff spots heading into Week 14.

It's Jordan Love.

The Packers' first-year starter was awful the last time Vikings Nation saw him play the Purple. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores befuddled him in a 24-10 Week 8 beatdown at Lambeau Field that wasn't even that close.

The Packers fell to 2-5 that day. They stood 12^th in the NFC. They seemed kaput.

But …

Since Week 9, Love is …

Tied for second in the league in touchdown passes (11).
Third in passing yards (1,374).
Fourth in passer rating (106.3).
4-1 as a starter.

Meanwhile, since Week 11, Love has …

Completed 74 of 108 passes (68.5%) for 857 yards, eight touchdowns, no interceptions and a 116.9 passer rating.
Become the first quarterback this season to throw for 850-plus yards, eight-plus touchdowns and no interceptions over a three-game span.
Beaten the Lions (9-3) and Chiefs (8-4) in consecutive weeks while throwing three-plus TD passes with zero interceptions.
Reached four career games with three-plus TD passes and zero interceptions, tying for the most by an NFL player in his first 13 games since 1950.
Gone 3-0.

And …

Led the Packers to a 6-6 record, where they currently hold the seventh and final playoff seed heading into Monday's game at the Giants. The Vikings are 6-6 and hold the sixth seed heading into Sunday's game at Las Vegas.

The other 6-6 teams are the Falcons, Rams and Seahawks. The 5-7 teams are the Buccaneers and Saints.

The Falcons lead the NFC South, so they hold the fourth playoff seed. The Bucs and Saints are one game behind, so — good, bad or ugly — one of those three will win the fourth seed, while the other two grapple the Vikings, Packers, Rams and Seahawks for the final two wild-card berths.

How does Love compare to these other QB situations?

Well, putting it in terms that Vikings Nation understands all too well this season, we'll start with the turnovers.

Since November began, Love has thrown 11 touchdown passes and turned the ball over twice while going 4-1.

As for the others …

The Rams' Matthew Stafford and Brett Rypien have combined for eight touchdown passes and four turnovers while going 3-1.
The Vikings' Dobbs and Jaren Hall have combined for five touchdown passes and nine turnovers while going 2-2.
The Falcons' Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke have combined for four touchdown passes and three turnovers while going 2-2.
The Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield has eight touchdown passes and six turnovers while going 2-3.
The Seahawks' Geno Smith has six touchdown passes and three turnovers while going 1-3.
The Saints' Derek Carr and Jameis Winston have combined for five touchdown passes and five turnovers while going 1-3.

If the Packers being the best of this bunch the past month isn't distasteful enough for Vikings Nation, well, here's a look at each of the seven teams' remaining schedules from easiest (on paper) to hardest (on paper). Each team has five games left. The Saints have two road games, while the others have three apiece:

Packers (Opponents' combined record: 20-40). Games vs. teams with a current winning record: 0.
Saints (22-38). Winning records: 0.
Falcons (22-38). Winning records: 1. Colts (7-5) at home.
Buccaneers (26-34). Winning records: 1. Jacksonville (8-4).
Rams (31-30). Winning records: 2. At Baltimore (9-3), at 49ers (9-3).
Seahawks (33-29). Winning records: 3. At 49ers (9-3), Eagles (10-2) at home, Steelers (7-6) at home.

And last but not easiest …

Vikings (35-25). Winning records: 2. Home and away with Lions (9-3).

about the writer

Mark Craig

Sports reporter

Mark Craig has covered the NFL nearly every year since Brett Favre was a rookie back in 1991. A sports writer since 1987, he is covering his 30th NFL season out of 37 years with the Canton (Ohio) Repository (1987-99) and the Star Tribune (1999-present).