Paul Bretl | 10/20/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — To an extent, it was a mistake-filled performance by the Packers, particularly on offense and on certain aspects of special teams. However, it would be the defense and Green Bay’s specialists, punter Daniel Whelan and kicker Brandon McManus, that would bail the team out to secure the win over Houston.
“The defense played phenomenal,” said Jordan Love after the game. “That’s a really good offense on the other side right there, and I think they did some good things all night with being aggressive, being able to hold that passing game to whatever – I don’t know how many yards they had – so I think they did a great job.
“I think the rush package that we had out there was doing a great job of getting home, and the DBs on the back end were doing a great job. That’s not an easy task and that’s a really good offense, so I think they did a great job.”
The giveaways by the Packers nearly cost Green Bay the game. A pair of interceptions from Jordan Love and a fumble on a punt return that bounced off Corey Ballentine turned into 16 points for Houston–in a game where they scored 22 in total. Two of those three turnovers resulted with Houston starting with the ball inside the Packers’ 20 yard line.
However, put in some difficult situations, the defense was able to keep points off the board. In a game where the Packers won by just two points, Green Bay’s defense kept six points off the board by not allowing the first Houston takeaway to turn into a touchdown and then later in the game they stopped a two-point conversion attempt.
Overall, it was tough sledding in this game for a dynamic Texans’ offense. CJ Stroud finished the game just 10-for-21 passing, throwing for only 86 yards. Tight end Dalton Schultz was held to 28 yards and Stefon Diggs just 23 yards.
A lot of that success began with the Green Bay pass rush, which was able to generate four sacks and seven quarterback hits in this game. With the four-man rush struggling to get home consistently this season, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley dialed up a number of third-down blitzes to not give Stroud time or the ability to get comfortable in many instances.
“Little splash here, little splash there, mixing it up,” said Rashan Gary at his locker. “Understanding our personnel, understanding how people want to block our personnel and just keep adding to the packages and things like that.”
What we are seeing is a defense that’s doing the dictating. Of course, that aggressive approach isn’t always going to workout, but when there is the opportunity to get off the field on third down, Hafley isn’t sitting back–he’s forcing the issue with an attacking play-style.
“Coaches trusting us, especially on those blitzes,” said Kenny Clark after the game. “Guys gotta be able to be smart and do their job. So coaches trusting us on those blitzes and we gotta execute and when we do them, we gotta do them full speed and hit it strong. Just coach trusting us to do our job and be where we supposed to be and the blitzes and all that stuff getting home.”
One area where the Houston offense was able to move the ball was in the run game with Joe Mixon, a player that Matt LaFleur praised earlier in the week, noting his physical play-style and ability to impact the game in a variety of ways.
Mixon would rush for 115 yards on 25 carries, but the key for the Packers was that he didn’t take the game over and an important reason behind Green Bay’s ability to get after Stroud, oftentimes in those third down situations, was that the Texans faced an obvious passing situation, giving the pass rush the opportunity to pin its ears back.
“Run defense, we definitely gotta get better,” added Clark. “Communication, getting off blocks, really just executing on that side. But happy with how we played. We did a really good job. Gotta get better.”
Partnering with the defensive performance was Whelan and the punt coverage team. On the stat sheet, Whelan averaged 56.8 yards per punt on five attempts. For some context, the league lead in yards per punt through six weeks is 52.9 yards.
However, as impressive as that 56.8 figure is on the stat sheet, it doesn’t do Whelan’s performance justice either. With the offense struggling to move the ball in the second half, Whelan had consecutive punts of 62 yards, 66 yards, and 61 yards that flipped the field position battle and forced the Texans’ offense to put together much longer drives. In total, Houston scored just three points on those three possessions.
“He’s been really consistent,” said LaFleur post-game. “We see it in practice. He’s definitely the best I’ve ever been around. He obviously kicks it a long way but just the hang time, too. Some guys will kick it far and they’re going to outkick their coverage, but I thought our guys, our fliers, did an outstanding job winning their one-on-one battles, flying down there to negate big return opportunities for the most part.”
Whelan’s impact on this game wasn’t only limited to the punt coverage unit either. As the holder, he plays an obvious and integral part of the field goal operation. On the second field goal attempt, after the first was waived off by a Texans’ timeout, long-snapper Matt Orzech’s snap looked like a rug-burner and was one that Whelan had to dig out of the dirt, which he did with ease.
Getting to this point for Whelan as the holder came with a lot of practice behind the scenes–or away from the practice field. During fall camp as a rookie in 2023, Whelan and then long-snapper Broughton Hatcher would snap “like 100 (balls) a night,” as Whelan told it, in the hotel hallway. Whelan then added that all that time has “paid off.”
“You just catch it with your eyes basically,” said Whelan. “Your hand’s on the spot so kind of just flip my hands around and the laces are perfect, so didn’t have too much there.”
Behind Whelan on that hold was McManus, who had just arrived in Green Bay on Wednesday. An experienced kicker in his 12th NFL season, even in high-pressure situations like this one, Whelan noted how incredibly calm McManus was throughout the entire situation.
Even with the Texans calling a timeout in an attempt to ice McManus, that intended impact actually had the opposite effect on the veteran kicker.
“I was telling Danny after, I always want a practice kick if I can,” McManus said. “It was a little windy today, just seeing where the wind might move the ball. If I for some reason miss the first one, I’ve never missed back-to-back kicks in my career, so I feel pretty confident. I always want to have that practice rep if I can.”
While we all saw the end result, which was the field goal attempt going through the uprights for the game-winner, there was a lot of work over these last several days to get to this point.
Every kicker wants the ball held differently on the hold. With McManus being the seventh different kicker to don a Packer helmet since January, Whelan has gotten comfortable with the constant change. However, even in working with several different kickers, McManus prefers to have the ball held differently than the others that have been through Green Bay recently.
As he does, Whelan spent his time away from the facility these last several days practicing the hold just as McManus wants it.
“A little lean on the hashes,” said Whelan on how McManus prefers the ball. “Laces to the goalposts, right hash down the hash, not crazy, a little bit picky but it works.”
On a team where there is an abundance of talent on the offensive side of the ball, and that unit certainly had its moments as well, an important win against a very good Texans team was possible because of the play of the Green Bay defense, the punter, and the kicker.
The defense got the stops, Whelan flipped the field and secured the hold, while McManus made the kick–and then the entire Packers’ team celebrated the win.
“It was a great working week,” added McManus. “I had Matt and Danny working hard to understand how I like the operation to be done. Coaches did a great job of overdrilling it. I had a chance to feel extremely comfortable there in a tough situation. Happy to be here and help the team win.”