The Green Bay Packers trailed the Houston Texans at four different points in the game, but Jordan Love threw three go-ahead touchdown passes and new kicker Brandon McManus put the Packers ahead for good when he connected on a 45-yard field goal as time expired on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
The come-from-behind win was the Packers’ third straight victory and improved the team’s record to 5-2 after seven games.
Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly coming out of the Packers’ win over the Texans:
The Good
Pass rush and coverage: The Packers didn’t have a takeaway, but Jeff Hafley’s ascending defense showed how suffocating they can be when they mix coverage and pressure against a top quarterback. Green Bay had C.J. Stroud under pressure on almost half of his dropbacks, and the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023 finished with only 10 completions and 55 net passing yards — both career lows. The Packers sacked him four times. Receivers Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell combined for five catches on 11 targets for only 23 yards.
Depth shines again: On one drive in the first half, seven different players touched the ball as the Packers marched down the field and scored. Three different players caught touchdown passes from Jordan Love, Romeo Doubs led the team with eight catches and 94 yards and Josh Jacobs turned 17 touches into 92 yards. Even on a day when Christian Watson and Jayden Reed were quiet, the Packers were productive enough on offense to win. Tucker Kraft and Dontayvion Wicks both caught their team-leading fourth touchdown passes. Bo Melton and Emanuel Wilson both had third-down conversions on scoring drives.
The Bad
Two more Jordan Love interceptions: Love threw two more interceptions — one on a deflected ball by Jalen Pitre on the first series and another on an overthrow under pressure. Love now has eight picks — tied with Patrick Mahomes for the NFL lead — in only five starts. What’s the concern level? Turnovers are never a good thing, but Love is a big-game hunter who trusts his arm talent and will always be aggressive. On the first pick, he appeared to make the right read against the coverage but the defender made a terrific individual play, sensing the route combination and coming off coverage on Romeo Doubs. Later, Love drifted against pressure and sailed a throw when he needed an accurate ball to beat the coverage. If anything, these are mistakes Love can learn from moving forward. The Texans scored 10 of their 22 points following Love’s interceptions.
The Ugly
Punt returns: The Packers had big issues returning punts. Keisean Nixon failed to catch one in the first half, and the bouncing ball hit off Corey Ballentine for an avoidable turnover. Later, Nixon had a return blocked up in front of him, but he hesitated after the catch and tried to get outside containment on what amounted to only an 8-yard return. Finally, Jayden Reed caught a punt at the 1-yard line and was stopped inside the 5.