The Texans (5-1) travel north to face Green Bay (4-2) in a Week 7 matchup. It's the first time the two franchises have squared off when both teams are two or more games above .500. Houston walloped the Patriots in Foxborough last Sunday, 41-21. The Packers, meanwhile, raced out to a 24-0 lead at home over the Cardinals, before ultimately triumphing, 34-13. Here are five things to watch when they kick off at Noon CT at Lambeau Field.
1) Run dominance – Joe Mixon returned to action last week, and the veteran running back ran for a score, caught another, cracked the 100-yard mark on the ground with just 13 carries, and helped propel the club to its fifth win.
He's started three games this season, and missed three more. When he's played, the team's been markedly different. They've scored an average of 29.7 points in those contests, compared to 18 points per game in the ones he missed. The Texans as a team averaged 5.3 yards per carry when Mixon suits up, and just 3.4 yards a pop when he was inactive. Further, the team has gone for 160 yards per game with Mixon in the lineup, and 77.7 when not.
Statistically, there's no question about Mixon's impact on the offense. But Head Coach DeMeco Ryans explained how Mixon impacts the squad in other important ways as well.
"Joe's mentality definitely rubs off on our entire team," Ryans said. "He wants the ball as many times you are going to give it to him. He likes doing the hard work. He likes to grimy work he's a physical runner."
Additionally last Sunday, Dameon Pierce had his finest game of the season. He too, had missed quite a bit of time, and had only suited up at Indianapolis in Week 1. But he returned with a bang, carrying eight times for 76 yards and a touchdown. He had an 11-yard run in addition to his exclamation point 54-yard scoring jaunt in the fourth quarter, and laid out what a healthy running back room can mean for the team.
"How can we not be one-dimensional and force those guys to play those guys and have to cover those guys in one-on-one situations?," Pierce said. "That's all a healthy running back room does. It makes it more favorable for the guys on the outside and that's what we want to do."
Ryans showed Pierce's touchdown run to the entire team on Monday morning, and was enthused by the reaction it got.
"Everybody was going crazy with Dameon and how physical that run was for him to break through the line and also to break two tackles and the speed to finish the run," Ryans said. "I'm happy for Dameon and proud of him for the work that he's put in while he's been out with injury."
2) Stay strong, Stroud – The ground game last week was a welcome boost for the Texans, but quarterback C.J. Stroud was also highly-effective, finishing with a passer rating north of 100, and tossing three touchdown passes.
Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur has a lengthy list of reasons he's impressed by Stroud.
"He can process very fast," LaFleur said. "He's a very good anticipatory thrower, which I kind of think is a lost art. He does a great job with that. He's got some weapons around him too. They do a good job in protection."
In five wins this season, Stroud's completed 68.9 percent of his passes, with nine touchdowns and a pair of picks, and a passer rating of 103.8.
The second-year quarterback attributed some of last week's success to limiting mistakes and penalties.
"It's huge," Stroud said. "Whenever we stay on the green or stay in positive ahead of the sticks, it's hard for us to get off the field. It's one thing we've been trying to just be better at is just not shooting ourselves in the foot and I think last week, we definitely took a step, especially in an away environment."
3) Dynamic Duo - Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell got the lion's share of Stroud's targets last week, as that wide receiver duo combined for 134 yards on 13 receptions, and a touchdown catch apiece.
Despite the successful day, Dell believes the Texans offense continues to be a work in progress and can be better.
"We know we know who we can be," Dell said. "We're still trying to find our identity. We still got Nico Collins out. When we're all back and we all get it clicking, we're going to be good."
Diggs is no stranger to Green Bay, as the former Viking has caught a touchdown pass in each of the last eight games he's played against the Packers. In all, he has nine career touchdown receptions against Green Bay. The last time Diggs suited up against the Packers, he went off. In 2022 as a Buffalo Bill, Diggs caught six pases for 108 yards and a touchdown.
The Diggs and Dell tandem is a headache for opposing defenses.
"They can beat man coverage," Ryans said. "It doesn't matter who they're going against. They can beat man coverage because they run routes the right way and they're difficult to cover and so that'll always be the challenge."
4) Love and Company – Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love leads the NFL in passing touchdowns per game and is second in the league in passing yards per contest. The fourth-year pro has been described by Ryans as "the best quarterback we've seen this year." The Texans defense will get tested.
"They pose a lot of challenges not only with Love, but the guys he's getting the ball to," Ryans said. "It's just an explosive offense. It'll be a really big-time matchup for us and I know our guys are excited about it."
The Packers ground attack is second in the NFL with an average of 167.2 yards per game. The Texans defense is giving up 113.8 rushing yards per contest, which is 13th-best in the league.
5) Denico's debut – Defenisve lineman Denico Autry sacked the quarterback 11.5 times last year for Tennessee, and after a 6-game suspension, gets to take the field in his Texans debut this Sunday. Ryans and company are excited he's back.
"Autry, he is ready to go," Ryans said. "He was doing a lot of work while people weren't watching him. While he wasn't here, he put in a lot of work in and that is the biggest thing."
Defensive coordinator Matt Burke likes the "toughness" Autry adds to the mix, and thinks the lineman is special.
"He's a very unique rusher," Burke said. "He kind of brings of that ability inside which is kind of hard sometimes and pretty unique for him so can rush on the edge, he can rush inside, and I think because he is kind of a sort of end/tackle, he kind of brings a little different style of rush to the front."
