It was a football game, at Lambeau, in front of 72,348 fans, on a beautiful evening. Been a while for that.
The 2021 Pre-Season opener saw the Houston Texans beat the Green Bay Packers 26-7 but Packer fans finally got to see last year ‘s number one pick, Jordan Love, play some quarterback. Playing the first half, Love went 12 of 17 for 122 yards and his first professional touchdown pass, a 22 yard screen to this year’s 7th round pick Kylin Hill that gave Green Bay it’s only lead of the night at 7-3. Love finished with a passer rating of 110.4 and he went six for six on the scoring drive. His night ended sooner than Head Coach Matt LaFleur had planned however as Love got “dinged” on his final pass attempt. Houston’s Jonathan Greenard got around left tackle Yosh Nijman and stripped the ball out of Love’s hand and the Texans recovered the fumble. LaFleur wouldn’t disclose the nature of the injury and Love said he just felt some soreness in his shoulder but he should be OK. The original plan was to have Love play through the third quarter but LaFleur didn’t want to take any chances and he let Kurt Benkert finish the game at quarterback.
The exhibition opener was all about the kids as LaFleur decided to sit a whopping 30 veterans.
The Texans got two rushing touchdowns and four Ka’imi Fairbairn field goals to make a winner in Head Coach David Culley’s debut which snapped Green Bay’s 9 game pre-season winning streak at home.
Starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor hit all four of his attempts on Houston’s first series, three coming against veteran corner Josh Jackson but a third and one at the 18 was foiled by Oren Burks knifing through a gap to force the first field goal from 37 yards. After a second consecutive three and out from Green Bay’s offense, a Burks sack forced a punt and that’s when Love found his rhythm.
The biggest throw was a 34 yard strike over the middle to tight end Jace Sternberger on third and 9. Malik Taylor and Devin Funchess caught balls for 10 and 15 yards and on the second snap of the second quarter, Love threw a screen to the right. Hill got a block from center Josh Myers and reached the sideline, out running the pursuit to dive inside the pylon for the only touchdown of the night.
Houston put up 10 points in the second, a 5 yard touchdown run by Scottie Phillips and a 25 yard field goal that capped a 17 play, 71 yard, 6 minute march.
The strip sack of Love came in the final minute of the half and Houston had the ball at the Green Bay 17 but Kabion Ento got it right back with an interception of backup Davis Mills.
After intermission, Benkert took the controls and completed three straight passes for 51 yards but at the Houston 37, a botched exchange with Hill put the ball on the ground for the second turnover of the night. The Texans added three more and when Benkert couldn’t connect with Reggie Begelton on a 4th and 5 back shoulder throw, Houston drove into field goal range again. A 9 yard sack forced a Packer punt from their own 8 and a 20 yard return gave Houston a short field and three plays later, Darius Jackson broke free off right tackle for a 25 yard touchdown to finish the scoring.
The punt cover team, a big issue last year, again conceded too much room as Houston averaged over 18 yards a return including a 43 yarder in the first half.
Benkert would also throw a late interception, rolling to his left and forcing a ball up the sidelines that was easily snared by Tremon Smith with only a couple minutes left.
The Texans outgained the Packers 319 to 242 and had a big edge on the ground, 170-49. If not for Dexter Williams putting up 32 yards on 4 carries late, the Packers numbers would have been worse. Hill managed only -2 yards on five carries. Funchess led the receivers with 6 receptions for 70 yards while Malik Taylor had five catches for 50.
Burks looked fast on defense with six tackles, two behind the line and a sack. Rookie T.J. Slaton was disruptive inside against the run at times with five tackles.
All things considered, Matt LaFleur was just happy to play in front of a noisy house again, get a good look not only at Love but the bottom half of the roster.
As for Love, who hadn’t played a game since the Senior Bowl 17 months ago, it just felt great to put on a Packer uniform for the first time and take snaps.
The only other injury of note was a shoulder injury for DeAndre Thompkins who got hurt diving for a deep sideline pass. Funchess got led into the locker room late but appeared fine waving to fans.
The Packers will have Sunday off, conduct a short practice Monday that will be closed to the public. Then the New York Jets arrive for a pair of joint practices Wednesday and Thursday before another tune up at Lambeau next Saturday night.
