Live Updates: Packers at Texans
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers (4-1) will face the Houston Texans (1-5) at noon Sunday at NRG Stadium in Houston. Follow along all day for updates.
Fourth Quarter
Packers 35, Texans 20 (1:33 remaining)
Deshaun Watson threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Will Fuller for an irrelevant touchdown. The Texans recovered the onside kick but undrafted rookie safety Henry Black's big stick on running back David Johnson resulted in a pop-fly fumble that was recovered by Adrian Amos to officially clinch the game.
Packers 35, Texans 13 (3:40 remaining)
Jamaal Williams walked into the end zone with the clinching touchdown. Keyed by Preston Smith’s big fourth-down snap, Green Bay put the game on ice. On third-and-7 from the 30, Aaron Rodgers found Davante Adams on a back-shoulder throw for a gain of 16. For Adams, that brought his totals to 13 catches for 196 yards. He matched the franchise record with 14 catches vs. Minnesota in Week 1. The yardage total was the best of his career, beating his 180 yards vs. Philadelphia last season.
Packers 28, Texans 13 (6:58 remaining)
With momentum building behind the Texans, Packers outside linebacker Preston Smith came to the rescue. On fourth-and-1 near midfield, Houston ran a quarterback option. Smith swallowed up quarterback Deshaun Watson for the big stop.
Packers 28, Texans 13 (9:56 remaining)
Once again, Green Bay’s defense came up big. After Dexter Williams allowed a blocked punt to give the Texans the ball at the Packers’ 22, Green Bay’s defense stiffened. On third-and-goal from the 8, Packers safety Vernon Scott – in the game after Raven Greene (oblique) was injured earlier in the second half – grabbed hold of Texans running back Duke Johnson and held on for dear life. Houston settled for a 29-yard field goal.
Packers 28, Texans 10 (14:12 remaining)
On third-and-3 from the 8, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine sent a seven-man rush. Unblocked safety Adrian Amos sacked Deshaun Watson. Facing fourth-and-15, Houston had to settle for a 38-yard field goal.
Third Quarter
Packers 28, Texans 7 (4:44 remaining)
Right when the Texans threatened to make a game of it, Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams dumped a bucket of water on their hosts. Moments after Rodgers just missed Adams for what might have been a big gain, Rodgers and Adams connected for a 45-yard touchdown. On third-and-4, Adams beat safety Eric Murray for a 45-yard touchdown. It was Rodgers’ fourth touchdown of the game and Adams’ 11th reception and second score.
Packers 21, Texans 7 (8:55 remaining)
Deshaun Watson extended the play to his left and running back David Johnson broke free of linebacker Ty Summers for a 3-yard touchdown. Summers was in after starting linebacker Krys Barnes injured a shoulder earlier in the drive. Watson completed all seven passes on the drive.
Second Quarter
Packers 21, Texans 0 (14 seconds remaining)
Aaron Rodgers entered the day having thrown touchdown passes to 38 players in his career. Now, that list is at 40. After hitting Jace Sternberger for a short touchdown early in the second quarter, Rodgers went play-action and flipped a short pass to Malik Taylor for a 2-yard touchdown. Davante Adams had receptions of 15 and 11 yards and Jamaal Williams had a run of 14 and a reception of 16.
Rodgers’ passer rating is 144.2 on the strength of 16-of-21 passing for 197 yards and three scores. Davante Adams has eight catches for 114 yards and Jamaal Williams has 83 total yards. The Packers have a 253-135 edge as they’ve rolled without left tackle David Bakhtiari and running back Aaron Jones.
Packers 14, Texans 0 (13:33 remaining)
Aaron Rodgers flipped the ball over hard-charging J.J. Watt and into the hands of tight end Jace Sternberger for a 3-yard touchdown. Davante Adams has caught 6-of-6 passes for 83 yards and one touchdown. On third-and-9, he beat Vernon Hargreaves deep for a 28-yard gain. The coverage was good but Adams’ use of late hands never tipped off Hargreaves. On the first play of the second quarter, play-action fakes to Jamaal Williams and Darrius Shepherd allowed Adams to get free of Phillip Gaines for a gain of 36.
First Quarter
Packers 7, Texans 0 (7:15 remaining)
To make up for injuries, Green Bay’s starting offensive line consisted of Billy Turner at left tackle, Rick Wagner at right tackle and the usual interior three of left guard Elgton Jenkins, center Corey Linsley and right guard Lucas Patrick.
On defense, fresh off injured reserve, Kamal Martin started at linebacker alongside Krys Barnes. Without cornerback Kevin King, Josh Jackson started for a second consecutive week. Jackson helped make the play on third-and-1 to force a three-and-out punt on Houston’s opening drive.
Packers 7, Texans 0 (9:21 remaining)
On third-and-goal, Davante Adams shook cornerback Phillip Gaines for an easy 3-yard touchdown. It was Adams’ second catch on third down. On third-and-1 from the 8, he got open on a crossing route, made a difficult catch look easy and moved the chains. The big play was a 17-yard catch and run by Jamaal Williams with 15 yards tacked on via Justin Reid’s helmet-to-helmet hit. The Packers are now 6-for-6 on opening drives this season.
Inactives
If the Packers are going to bounce back from last week’s loss at Tampa Bay, they’ll have to do it without some key starters. Left tackle David Bakhtiari (chest), running back Aaron Jones (groin), cornerback Kevin King (quad), safety Darnell Savage (quad) and defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster (shoulder) are five starters out for the game. So is running back/returner Tyler Ervin (wrist).
Jones didn’t practice on Friday and was listed as questionable. He said he felt his calf get tight during Thursday’s practice. He wanted to play but, as the team showed in Week 4 when receiver Davante Adams was held out against Atlanta, Jones knew the decision wasn’t fully in his hands and there was a big-picture perspective to keep in mind.
“Didn't pay it much attention, and then after and throughout the later parts of the day is when I started to feel it,” Jones said on Friday. “And then came in this morning and we took a look at it. I feel like I'm confident I can play, but I know our trainers and doctors have the players' best interests in mind. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure I can get out on the field, but it's up to the team doctors.”
Without Bakhtiari, the expectation was the team would move right tackle Billy Turner to left tackle and insert Rick Wagner at right tackle. Turner has done well in three starts at right tackle and Wagner played well in about one-and-a-half games at right tackle early in the season.
The injury to King is a big one, as well. Josh Jackson struggled in King’s place last week. The team could go with Ka’Dar Hollman as the third corner alongside Jaire Alexander and Chandon Sullivan.
