On Wednesday, the Green Bay Packers signed veteran Brandon McManus to help solve their kicking woes. On Sunday, McManus booted the game-winning field goal as time expired to defeat the Houston Texans 24-22.
While many expected this game to feature two high-powered offenses, it was more of a defensive showcase. The Texans forced three turnovers in the first half and took a 19-14 lead into halftime.
Meanwhile, Green Bay’s defense did an excellent job against Houston’s top-5 passing offense led by a talented young quarterback in CJ Stroud. Stroud failed to get anything going Sunday afternoon, resulting in his worst game of the season and possibly his NFL career. He was 10-for-21 on the day and threw for only 86 yards without a touchdown.
The Texans were forced to rely on running back Joe Mixon, who rushed for 115 yards on 25 attempts and scored twice. Still, the Packers’ defense deserves a lot of credit. Houston scored only three points in the second half and were 4-for-13 on third down. Overall, there were a lot of encouraging takeaways from Jeff Hafley’s defense, which proved it doesn’t have to rely on turnovers to win games.
Green Bay has some things to clean up offensively and on special teams, but should be pleased with a quality win in Week 7 against a playoff team. Here are the standouts who helped make it happen: