GREEN BAY, Wis. – Sunday’s game at the Kansas City Chiefs is to Jordan Love what the Green Bay Packers’ 2007 game at the Dallas Cowboys was to Aaron Rodgers.

It was on a Thursday night at old Texas Stadium nearly 14 years ago when Rodgers showed the Packers -- and the NFL world -- that he might be a suitable replacement for Brett Favre.

Love will get the chance Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox) to show something similar -- and prove he could be ready as soon as next season to take over for Rodgers, who has been ruled out because he tested positive for COVID-19.

Rodgers didn’t lead the Packers to a victory on that night in 2007, but when Favre left in the second quarter because of elbow and shoulder injuries, the Packers trailed by 17 points. Rodgers, with some help from his defense, got the Packers to within three points late in the third quarter before they lost 37-27. Along the way, Rodgers threw his first NFL touchdown pass and completed 18 of 26 passes for 201 yards.

It had a lasting impact.

His performance went a long way toward convincing then-coach Mike McCarthy and then-general manager Ted Thompson that Rodgers could not only capably replace Favre but also that they could turn over the team to him at any time.

That time ended up being a few months later. They didn’t beg Favre to return after the 2007 season in part because of how they felt about Rodgers, and Favre temporarily retired.

Rodgers has mentioned many times during his career how important that night was to him. Is Love ready for the same kind of moment?

“Well, we’ll find out, right?” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Wednesday when asked about Love’s readiness to start.

Love will get all the reps with the No. 1 offense in practice this week, so it’s not like he’s coming into the game cold like Rodgers did in 2007. Even when Love runs the scout team, LaFleur and quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy treat it like he’s actually running their offense in a sense.

“That’s something that we try to, when we’re doing those scout teams in practice, you try to take whatever’s on the card [showing the opponent's plays] or whatever play that they’re running and put it into our terms to help the development process,” LaFleur said. “So, I know he takes every rep very seriously.”

However, Rodgers had more lead-in time than Love has had. It was Rodgers’ third year, and he had the benefit of three exhibition seasons.

Love didn’t get game action of any kind for more than a year after Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst traded up to pick him in the first round of the 2020 draft. There were no preseason games in 2020 because of COVID-19 protocols, and Love was inactive as the No. 3 quarterback for every game last season, making him the third quarterback selected in the first round in the previous 15 years who did not make a start as a rookie. (Jake Locker in 2011 with Tennessee and Brady Quinn in 2007 with the Browns were the others).

However, Love got the benefit this offseason of taking all the QB1 reps while Rodgers skipped everything, including the mandatory minicamp. Love was supposed to get the majority of the preseason snaps but missed the middle of the three games because of a shoulder injury. In two games, he managed one scoring drive. In a 19-0 loss to the Bills to close the summer, he threw an ugly interception in the end zone while under pressure.

“I thought he had a fantastic camp, I really did,” Gutekunst said at the end of the preseason. “Obviously he had a little bit of a pause in there where he missed some time, which would have been nice for him to have. But I thought he did an excellent job. Really saw the growth we needed to see, yeah, I was excited for him. Obviously nothing’s perfect and there’s definitely some things in there that I think he’ll take from this preseason with him as he goes. But nah, I thought it was fantastic.”

Love mopped up in the 38-3 loss to the Saints in Week 1, when he completed 5 of 7 passes for 68 yards without a touchdown or interception. Those remain the only passes of his NFL career.

LaFleur, Getsy and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett will undoubtedly try to keep things as simple as possible for Love. It could be similar to their plan in last week’s win over the Cardinals, when they were without their top-three receivers. LaFleur called designed runs 45% of the time, their second-highest rate of the season according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

“It could help him a lot, take some pressure off of him,” Packers running back Aaron Jones said. “Anytime any team is running the ball well, that takes the pressure off any quarterback. So I think if we come out and do that, it will help him tremendously and he’ll be able to settle in.”

Love has shown a penchant for throwing short and taking the checkdowns, which is not all that different from the way Rodgers played last week without Davante Adams, Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantling -- all of whom could play Sunday against the Chiefs. Rodgers kept it short by averaging 4.8 air yards per pass attempt, the third lowest of his career. He also got the ball out quickly, averaging 2.25 seconds to throw, his fastest in a game since Week 2 of 2016. LaFleur used pre-snap motion 67% of the time, tied for the highest rate in his three seasons.

If Rodgers misses only one game -- and if all goes well he would be allowed to return the day before the Packers’ Week 10 game against the Seahawks -- then this might be Love’s only chance.

But at least it’s a chance, similar to the one Rodgers got before he took over full time.

Gutekunst and Rodgers agreed to revisit their futures together after this season. How Love handles Sunday in Kansas City could impact Gutekunst’s thought process when that time comes.