GREEN BAY — Brandon McManus hit a 45-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Green Bay Packers past the Houston Texans 24-22 on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Play of the Game

With three seconds left the newest member of the Green Bay Packers lined up for a game-winning field goal from 45 yards out. That man, Brandon McManus, had not attempted a field goal since January 7th, out of football this year as he worked his way through sexual assault allegations. But he was cleared of those last week by the NFL and took the field for the Packers on Sunday knowing he might be called on. After knocking through his first attempt just after Houston took a timeout to try and freeze the veteran, McManus calmly stepped up and put his second one a few yards inside the left upright for the win. It set off a giant celebration that ended with the kicker and a number of teammates doing Lambeau Leaps into the south end zone. It was his seventh career game-winning kick but his first in close to five years.

Game Balls

Offense:

Romeo Doubs

The wide out had some huge plays in the game, including two catches on the final drive to setup the field goal. He finished with a team-high eight catches for 94 yards. The catches and yards were the most for him in a regular season game since Sept. 28 of last season.

Josh Jacobs

While Houston’s Joe Mixon was the more flashy of the two on Sunday, Jacobs more than held his own with his 17 touches. It included 76 yards on the ground and 16 yards receiving. Forty-seven of his total yards came on a 9-play, 71-yard scoring drive in the third quarter that he finished off with an 8-yard touchdown reception. It was the first receiving touchdown of his career.

Defense:

Eric Wilson

Wilson was everywhere, especially after he was forced into a bigger role when starter Quay Walker got hurt. A special teams standout, Wilson finished with six tackles, four of which resulted in a loss of yards. That included two sacks, two quarterback hits and had a pass breakup to force a punt in the third quarter.

What Went Right

Daniel Whelan

The Packers punter is a weapon. He was routinely able to flip the field for Green Bay in what was a heck of a punting matchup between him and Tommy Townsend. The latter averaged 51.2 yards per kick and dropped four inside the 20. While Whelan didn’t have any downed inside the 20, he averaged 56.8 yards per punt with a long of 66. It got the Packers out of the shadow of their own goal line a number of times. Whelan also deftly handled a poor snap on the game-winning field goal and got the ball down for McManus to nail through.

Green Bay’s pass defense

CJ Stroud is a hell of a quarterback and he’s got some weapons at wide receiver and tight end. But the Packers defense frustrated him all day. When they weren’t sacking him — they had four — they were pressuring him on 48% of his dropbacks. He never got settled and ended up completing just 10 of 21 passes for 86 yards. The yardage was the fewest in his career and his 58.8 passer rating was the second-lowest.

What Went Wrong

Turnovers

The Packers were minus-3 on the day in the turnover department and Houston turned all of them into points. It started on the first drive of the game with Jordan Love getting picked off, his pass getting returned inside the 10-yard line, leading to a Texans field goal. The Packers coughed it up again when Keisean Nixon failed to either call for a fair catch on a punt or make it clear for guys to get away, and it hit off of Corey Ballentine with Houston recovering inside the 10-yard line and scoring a touchdown. Love threw another interception in the third quarter that led to another Texans score. It was impressive the Packers were able to win despite losing the turnover battle so significantly but there is zero reason to keep making it so hard on themselves.

What They Said

“We’ll never apologize for winning.”

Coach Matt LaFleur on a victory that came despite some sloppy play from his team

In Case You Missed It

— The Packers wore their new alternate ‘Winter Warning’ uniforms for the first time. They asked for a whiteout of Lambeau Field and the fans did a solid job obliging them.

— The temperature at kickoff was 72 degrees. It marked the fourth-warmest October game in Lambeau Field history and the warmest since 2007.

— Tempers flared before the game between the two sides with Houston WR Stefon Diggs and Packers CB Jaire Alexander jawing back-and-forth with some shoving going on.

— Jordan Love moved into the top-10 in all-time passing yards with a completion to Romeo Doubs in the first half.

— LB Quay Walker left the game in the second quarter with a concussion and did not return.

— Texans RB Joe Mixon scored a touchdown in the second quarter and attempted to do a Lambeau Leap but a Packers fan was having none of it.

Inside the Numbers

47 — That is how many touchdowns Jordan Love has thrown since the start of the 2023 season — the most in the NFL

8 — That is how many interceptions Jordan Love has thrown this year — the most in the NFL

3 — That is how many QB hits Rashan Gary had on the day. That matched his total for the entire season coming in. He ended up with a season-high five tackles and a sack.

30 — That’s how long the touchdown was that Dontayvion Wicks caught in the second quarter. Wicks had been listed as questionable coming into the game with a shoulder injury.

82 — That is how many rushing yards the Packers had. It was the fewest in a game this year and just the second time they’ve been held under 126 yards this year.

What’s Next?

Green Bay (5-2) will travel to Jacksonville next Sunday to face the Jaguars (2-5)

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