The Green Bay Packers got a game-winning field goal from Brandon McManus as time expired to beat the visiting Houston Texans at Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon. Wearing their “Winter Warning” white helmets and uniforms, the Packers shined at times but also floundered at times, and it took a late drive from Jordan Love to escape win a win — the team’s third straight after a 2-2 start.
Here are five things that stood out from the Packers’ win over the Texans:
Packers shut down WRs
Texans receivers Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell combined for five catches and 23 yards on 11 total targets. Dell (four targets, zero catches) was completely shut out. Diggs, who was in a war of words with Jaire Alexander and Keisean Nixon all afternoon, turned seven targets into only 23 yards. Without Nico Collins available, C.J. Stroud could find nothing in the passing game. He completed only 10 total passes and finished with 55 net passing yards.
The other specialist
Brandon McManus will get the headlines after nailing the game-winning kick in his Packers debut, but don’t forget to throw some flowers Daniel Whelan’s way. He not only bombed punts all afternoon, but he also made a difficult catch and hold of McManus’ game-winner. Whelan had three punts over 60 yards and averaged 56.8 yards across five punts. He consistently flipped the field for the Packers, which was important as the game devolved into a punt fest in the second half.
Doubs shines
He wasn’t one of the three players to catch a touchdown pass from Jordan Love, but Romeo Doubs was excellent in his second game back from a suspension. He caught a game-high eight passes for 94 yards, including a pair of catches on the game-winning drive. Doubs also opened the game with a 23-yard on the first play from scrimmage, had an 11-yard catch for a first down on a scoring drive in the first half and produced gains of 11 yards and 12 yards on the go-ahead touchdown drive to open the second half.
No takeaways, but tackles for loss all day
For the first time all season, the Packers didn’t have a takeaway. But Jeff Hafley’s defense did produce four sacks and 11 total tackles for loss in a mostly suffocating performance. If nothing else, the Packers proved they can handle business on a drive-to-drive basis against a top quarterback without relying on taking the ball away. Across nine drives that didn’t begin with a turnover, the Packers allowed only six points. The Texans punted six times and finished 4-for-13 on third down. Dominating on early downs — and often creating negative plays on first or second down — helped the Packers get the job done without takeaways.
Commendable win
The Packers did all they could to throw the game away, but credit is deserved for beating a contender in the AFC while losing the turnover battle 3-0 (two Jordan Love interceptions), struggling to run the football consistently (82 rush yards) and making a few special teams gaffes (lost fumble on punt return). Matt LaFleur’s team isn’t playing their best football, but they are finding ways to win games while still growing and learning from mistakes. It’s a sign of maturity that this team is 5-2 through seven games. At this same time last year, the Packers were 2-5. Learning how to win is a big step to becoming a special team. All things considered, the Packers look like a freight train that is just starting to get moving. Once they get rolling, look out.