John McClain, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, is in his 48th year of covering the NFL in Houston, including 45 seasons at the Houston Chronicle.
As disappointing as the Texans' passing game was Sunday at Lambeau Field, they still had an opportunity to escape Green Bay with an upset victory before losing, 24-22, on a field goal with no time left on the clock.
"I think our defense did a great job," quarterback C.J. Stroud said. "I think our special teams did amazing, so we have to be better as an offense. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot once again, and I think that's a recipe for disaster when you're playing against a great team. This is on us, period."
When new kicker Brandon McManus connected on his 45-yard field goal, the Packers breathed a sigh of relief. While white-clad fans celebrated their victory, the Texans shook their heads in disbelief because they knew just how close they came to winning and the frustrating circumstances surrounding a defeat that ended their three-game winning streak and left them with a 5-2 record – one game ahead of Indianapolis, next week's opponent at NRG Stadium.
The defense and special teams deserved a better fate because they forced three turnovers and kept the Texans in the game by playing above and beyond in a hostile environment.
Before we analyze what went wrong for an offense that produced only 197 yards, including a net 55 passing, let's look at what the defense and special teams did well.
Let's start with a defense that was missing five starters: Tackle Mario Edwards, cornerback Kamari Lassiter, safety Jimmie Ward and linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To'oTo'o.
The players who replaced them – tackle Tim Settle Jr., cornerback D'Angelo Ross, safety Eric Murray and linebackers Neville Hewitt and Jake Hansen – deserve shoutouts for their collective performance against one of the NFL's best offenses.
The defense forced two turnovers on interceptions by Hewitt on a pass deflected by Jalen Pitre and rookie safety Calen Bullock, who leaped and made a great play on the ball. Hewitt's 45-yard return on the game's first series gave the offense the ball at the Packers' 11, but the Texans had to settle for Ka'imi Fairbairn's 23-yard field goal.
Bullock's third interception of the season set up the Texans at their 45 and ended with Joe Mixon's 4-yard run that gave them a 19-14 lead late in the first half.
Despite the injury issues, the defense limited the Packers to 277 yards, including 82 rushing – 41 on the first possession of the third quarter that concluded with Josh Jacobs' 8-yard touchdown reception that put the Packers in front, 21-19.
Green Bay entered the game fourth in offense (400.8 yards), including second in rushing (167.2) and 10th in passing (233.7). The last time the Packers averaged that many yards rushing was 1963 when Vince Lombardi was coaching them.
The Packers were averaging 29 points in quarterback Jordan Love's four starts. Love was averaging three touchdown passes a game, and he matched that total on this gorgeous Sunday afternoon. Jacobs came into the game with 464 yards rushing and accumulated 76.
Under the circumstances, the defense played just about as well as could be asked. Settle, Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter sacked Love. The defense knocked him down six times and recorded eight tackles for loss.
What the defense was unable to do was to keep Love and the Packers out of field goal range on the last drive of the game.
After Fairbairn's 35-yard field goal gave the Texans a 22-21 lead with 1:44 remaining, the defense needed one more stop but couldn't get it.
"I thought our guys did a good job defensively (but) we didn't make enough plays to win the game," Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said. "No matter who's out there, there's no excuses. We've got to play our technique the right way and make plays when it's our time to make a play.
"We had opportunities to finish this game. We had our hands on two balls at the end. Ball was tipped up (by Hewitt). We come down and make a play there, it's a completely different feeling right now, but you learn from it. We see the mistakes. Win or lose, we always learn from it."
As for the special teams, M.J. Stewart recovered a muffed punt at the Green Bay 11 that set up the first touchdown on Joe Mixon's 2-yard run. Fairbairn kicked field goals of 23, 52 and 35 yards. Tommy Townsend punted six times with a 51.2 gross and a 45.7 net and four inside the 20. Dameon Pierce had a 42-yard kickoff return and Tank Dell averaged 12 yards on punt returns.
Now, let's look at the primary issues with the passing game that began with the lack of protection that put constant pressure on Stroud, who finished with 10-of-21 for 86 yards and a 58.8 rating.
Stroud was sacked four times for 31 yards. His average per attempt was 4.1 yards. He was knocked down seven times by a defense that registered 11 tackles for loss.
The problem sure wasn't the running game. The linemen did a good job of run blocking. Mixon finished with 25 carries for 115 yards (4.6 average) and two touchdowns.
At one point, after once again being forced out of the pocket, Stroud threw down his helmet on the sideline. End Rashan Gary and linebacker Eric Wilson consistently treated Stroud rudely. Wilson had two sacks and four tackles for loss. Gary had one sack and three knockdowns. He always seemed to be in Stroud's face as the Packers ran an impressive array of stunts, loops and blitzes.
"They rush as one," Stroud said. "We have to be better in protection, and I have to be better at getting the ball out on time. It's a multitude of things. A lot of things didn't go right offensively. We didn't get in a rhythm early. We missed some (opportunities). I thought we ran the ball well, but (we) just weren't clicking in the passing game."
Dell dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone on the first series and didn't have a reception despite four targets. Stefon Diggs caught five passes for 23 yards, including a 17-yard gain. Tight ends combined for two catches and 43 yards.
The unrelenting pressure discombobulated the Texans' passing game.
"We didn't pass the ball well all day," Ryans said. "It was not good enough, starting with the protection. If we can't protect, it's going to be difficult for the quarterback to make the plays. We have to go back to the drawing board and see what those issues were. As we watch the film, we'll see what happened starting (with) the communication and guys being on the details of the job.
"They were able to get pressure, whether it (was) with the stunts or the blitzes, it affects the passing game. There's no excuses. We have to protect it, and we have to make plays."
Xavier Hutchinson made a terrific play on his one reception. It was an 11-yard dandy on the Texans' last drive that began at their 38 after Dell's 13-yard punt return. On third-and-10 at the Green Bay 23, Stroud was flushed out of the pocket but threw a perfect pass to the sideline that a diving Hutchinson caught at the Packers' 12.
Then offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik called consecutive runs to Mixon that forced the Packers to use their two timeouts, but they lost 2 and 3 yards, setting up third-and-15 at the 17. Stroud's pass on third down was way short of the sticks and was incomplete. That brought out Fairbairn for his 35-yard field goal and the 22-21 advantage.
"I try to execute every play that (gets) called," Stroud said. "It seemed like we were just trying to run out the clock and then try to kick a field goal before we ended up having to throw the ball on third down and giving them the ball back with like a minute-40 left. I think that it was a good plan – just have to execute better."
At one point, Ryans didn't challenge an incompletion that looked like a backward pass. The Texans were leading 10-7 in the second quarter. The Packers rushed to the line of scrimmage, and Love connected with Dontayvion Wicks on a 30-yard touchdown pass.
"All the way across the board, we didn't execute well enough, and we didn't finish the game," Ryans said. "I credit the Packers. They finished it the right way (and) made the plays when they needed to make it. For us to play how we played offensively is just not good enough."
The Texans will have to play better on offense in their next game. The Colts are 4-3 and one game behind them. The Texans won the first game of the season at Indianapolis, and they'll be desperate to win Sunday and give them a sweep of the AFC South series.
