The Green Bay Packers defeated the Houston Texans 24-22 at Lambeau Field during Week 7 of the 2024 season.
It’s time to hand out game balls and pick the play of the game:
Game balls
Offense: WR Romeo Doubs — He didn’t score a touchdown, but Doubs was the go-to target for Jordan Love. The third-year receiver ran a nice route on a 23-yard catch on the game’s first play. He consistently won on in-breaking routes against man coverage and made several catches in traffic in the middle of the field. Love targeted him three times on the final drive, catching two for 18 yards, including a 12-yarder to get the Packers into field goal range and a 6-yarder to get McManus within 50 yards. Doubs finished with eight catches for 94 yards, all game highs.
Defense: LB Eric Wilson — Thrust into a full-time role after Quay Walker went down in the first half, Wilson made big play after big play. Twice, he ended drives with sacks on third downs. He made a tackle for loss on 2nd-and-10 that helped force a field goal try. He broke up a pass in coverage on third down. He made a tackle for loss on 2nd-and-8, eventually forcing a punt. He made a tackle covering a punt. Wilson finished with four tackles for loss and three plays that ended drives on third down. The veteran was a game-changer in an unexpected role on Sunday.
Special teams: P Daniel Whelan — Brandon McManus made the game winner, but Whelan gets the game ball for consistently flipping the field with massive punts and saving the day on the final kick. Whelan had three punts over 60 yards and an average per punt of almost 58 yards, and his net average when factoring in return yards was still over 51 yards. On the game-winner, Whelan made an incredible catch and hold of a really poor snap. In terms of impact from a punter on the game’s result, Whelan’s performance was about as good as it gets.
Play of the game
Sicko stuff from Love. pic.twitter.com/DLkwb5z7KP
— Jacob Morley (@JacobMorley) October 21, 2024
Playing quarterback in the red zone often requires making throws in near impossible windows. Watch the operation from Jordan Love on 3rd-and-4 in the first half. He looks left first to hold the safety, and then comes back to Tucker Kraft up the seam and fires a fastball to beat the safety. Love said he didn’t make a perfect throw, and he wanted the ball more up the hash to avoid the safety. But he threw the ball so hard it didn’t matter. The safety was a second too late, and Kraft made an incredible diving catch. Love’s arm talent was the difference between a potential interception or settling for a field goal and getting a touchdown in the red zone. The score gave the Packers a 7-3 lead in the second quarter and represented the first of three go-ahead scoring plays from Love in the back-and-forth contest.