The grades at Pro Football Focus support what was suspected: the Green Bay Packers didn’t play anywhere near their best game but still managed to beat the AFC South-leading Houston Texans on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
Per PFF, the Packers overall grade in Week 7 was the team’s second lowest of the season, ahead of only the Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. But a pressure-packed performance from Jeff Hafley’s defense against C.J. Stroud and a couple of clutch plays from Jordan Love got the job done against a contender from the AFC.
Based on grades from Pro Football Focus, here are the best and worst players from the Packers’ Week 7 win over the Texans:
Top 5 offense
1. WR Bo Melton: 81.2
2. WR Romeo Doubs: 76.4
3. RT Zach Tom: 72.6
4. QB Jordan Love: 72.2
5. TE Ben Sims: 69.6
Melton caught a third down pass to extend a scoring drive. Doubs caught eight of 10 targets, averaged 2.97 yards per route run and made four of five contested catches. Tom gave up two pressures but earned the line’s top run-blocking grade. Love made three big-time throws and was excellent when kept clean. Sims was the team’s highest graded run blocker, and he made one catch.
Top 5 defense
1. LB Eric Wilson: 82.7
2. LB Quay Walker: 76.8
3. DE Rashan Gary: 74.0
4. S Xavier McKinney: 69.1
5. S Javon Bullard: 66.1
Wilson produced a team-high four stops, including two sacks and two other tackles for loss, and he broke up a pass on third down. Walker had a tackle and was solid in coverage over 13 snaps before exiting with a concussion. Gary produced a team-high six pressures, including two quarterback hits and his first sack since Week 1. He also had two run stops. McKinney got home on both of his blitz attempts, including one ending in a third-down sack. Bullard was solid against the run and finished with three stops.
Bottom 5 offense
1. WR Jayden Reed: 40.1
2. WR Christian Watson: 53.3
3. LT Rasheed Walker: 55.6
4. RG Sean Rhyan: 56.0
5. TE Tucker Kraft: 56.8
Reed dropped two passes and produced only 10 receiving yards on 32 routes run. Watson caught only one pass and was stopped for a loss on his lone rushing attempt, and he graded out poorly as a run blocker. Walker gave up three pressures, including a sack, and struggled in the run game. Rhyan gave up a sack and was only average in the run game. Kraft caught three passes, including a touchdown, but he averaged 0.92 yards per route run on 36 routes.
Bottom 5 defense
1. DE Lukas Van Ness: 30.2
2. LB Edgerrin Cooper: 34.4
3. DL TJ Slaton: 35.1
4. DE Preston Smith: 37.5
5. DL Colby Wooden: 55.5
Van Ness played 32 snaps, including 22 as a pass-rushers, but wasn’t credited with a pressure. He also missed two tackles. Cooper missed two tackles, gave up two completions into his coverage and earned a poor run defense grade. Slaton played 22 snaps against the run but missed two tackles and earned a poor run defense grade. Smith was on the field for a season low 28 snaps, and he didn’t register a single pressure. Wooden had a quarterback hit but wasn’t effective against the run.
Special teams
Corey Ballentine was responsible for losing a fumble on the punt return, but he also had a tackle. Matt Orzech had a poor snap on a punt and the final field goal attempt, but he also had a tackle. Eric Wilson had one tackle and one miss. Zayne Anderson had a tackle. Kingsley Enagbare and Arron Mosby were flagged for penalties — Mosby’s holding negated a long kickoff return from Keisean Nixon. Brandon McManus made all four of his kick attempts. Daniel Whelan averaged 51.8 net yards, a season high.
Quarterback play
Jordan Love: 72.2
Love had three big-time throws and two turnover-worthy plays, matching his touchdown and interception total. He completed 80.8 percent of passes and threw three touchdown passes from clean pockets but struggled against pressure. Love connected on only 2-of-7 attempts over 20 yards, but two were touchdowns. When throwing between 0-9 yards, Love was 14-for-15 passing. The Packers used play-action on only six dropbacks.
Stat to know
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud was under pressure on 15 of his 29 dropbacks, or 51.7 percent. He completed only three passes for 14 yards and took four sacks while under pressure.