While the Packers beat the Texans, they still have some work to do to be true Super Bowl contenders.
The Green Bay Packers got a huge win in Week 7 against the Houston Texans. That’s not overplaying just how important of a victory it was, either. Green Bay, now 5-2, is in the midst of a heated NFC North race and looking up at the 5-1 Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.
Right now, the NFC North is the best division in football, meaning even a winning record won’t guarantee the playoffs in 2024. The Packers still have a ton of football left this season, but keeping pace with the Vikings and Lions is extremely important for this young team. Staying a step above the 4-2 Chicago Bears will also be vital, so every win counts – even against an AFC opponent.
As such, Green Bay’s 24-22 win over C.J. Stroud and the Texans was massive. The Texans are absolutely one of the Super Bowl contenders in the AFC.
Just because the Packers beat a Super Bowl contender, though, doesn’t mean the win absolutely proved that they are one. There are two things the Pack need to do in order to be a legitimate Super Bowl threat.
Jordan Love needs to clean up the turnovers
Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin-Imagn Images
This is absolutely problem No. 1 for the Packers as they look ahead to the rest of the 2024 season. Quarterback Jordan Love has Super Bowl potential, and it seems like more often than not, he’s scratching it.
Take a look at his beautiful throw to Tucker Kraft against the Texans for proof of that. There are few quarterbacks alive who can make the throws that Love can. That’s a list that starts with Patrick Mahomes and may only include Love and a few other NFL superstars.
Love has the “it” factor that made him a franchise quarterback for Green Bay — and we can talk about how ridiculous it is that the Packers somehow went from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers to Favre at a later date — but there are certainly times when Love seems to have more Favre in him than Rodgers, and that’s not always a good thing.
It’s a good thing when he’s making gunslinger-type throws that wow the crowd. It’s not that good of a thing when he’s making those same throws in inadvisable situations, which lead to turnovers.
Love turned it over twice against the Texans via two interceptions and he’s thrown eight so far on the season, which ironically ties him for the most in the NFL with Mahomes.
Love has an ability to not let the pressure bother him and he’s certainly proven more than capable of bouncing back from bad plays, he threw three beautiful touchdowns against the Texans and also led the game-winning drive. But Green Bay can’t truly be a Super Bowl contender this season if Love doesn’t clean up the turnovers.
Packers special teams needs to get consistent
The good news for the Packers is that they did at least take a step in the right direction.
General manager Brian Gutekunst was able to quickly right his wrongs and credit to him for not holding onto rookie kicker Braydon Narveson for too long. Narveson was a total liability as a place kicker and he arguably cost the Pack at least one game with his propensity to miss field goals from 40-to-49 yards out.
Gutekunst jettisoned Narveson and brought in veteran kicker Brandon McManus in his place, who promptly knocked in a 45-yarder to win Green Bay the game.
It was a clutch kick from McManus no doubt, and putting aside his off field issues, it seems as if the Pack have plugged a big hole.
Now McManus has to prove that kick wasn’t a fluke, because there are going to be plenty of big games coming up on the schedule.
Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia also has to somehow get his unit to start playing smart football. The Packers lost possession of the football and gave the Texans an extremely short field that resulted in a touchdown after returner Keisean Nixon failed to call a fair catch and instead watched the football bounce into the leg of one of his teammates. Later in the game, star wideout Jayden Reed took out a football near his goal line that he should have let bounce into the end zone.
There was also a low snap on the game winning kick. If it wasn’t for punter Daniel Whelan — who is the unit’s bright spot — the Packers would have lost.
Those two boneheaded plays and the low snap could have cost the Packers the game. In the future, there’s a real chance they will if Green Bay can’t clean things up.