They say everything is bigger in Texas and the Green Bay Packers made sure to comply with a huge 42-24 win over the formerly undefeated Houston Texans.
Aaron Rodgers played angry and it showed.
Rodgers threw a career-high six touchdowns to go along with 338 yards on 24-of-37 passing and a near-perfect passer rating (133.8).
What It Means: Not to overreact from one game, but does this mean the Packers (3-3) are catapulted back in to talk as one of the better teams in the NFC? If you closely evaluate their losses, I would say yes. A season-opening loss to the 49ers is understandable, the Seahawks loss (won’t say anything about that) and what probably was a fluke loss to the Colts. Rodgers will get all the pub, but the defense was just as impressive against the Texans (5-1). They brought pressure for most of the night and contained Houston’s best player in Arian Foster. The only downside to the Packers win were the four injuries the team sustained. LB Nick Perry, LB D.J. Smith, RB Brandon Saine and CB Sam Shields were all forced to leave the game.
Player of the Game: QB Aaron Rodgers (Who Else?)
Rodgers did something that’s only been done seven times since 1960. He threw at least six touchdowns without throwing an interception, becoming the first Green Bay quarterback to ever do so. By the way, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have both done that twice (hat tip to David Sabino of SI for the wonderful stat).
Also have to give credit to Jordy Nelson, James Jones and Randall Cobb for all having big nights as Rodgers’ receivers. Nelson had the best game of the three with nine catches, 121 yards and three touchdowns.
Highlight of the Game: Rodgers threw one of his precise bombs on the Packers’ first drive of the game which resulted in a 41 yard touchdown by Nelson. It was the first time all season that Green Bay was able to get some points on the opening drive of a game.
State of the Game (29): The amount of yards that Foster gained on 17 carries. The 1.7 yard per carry average was the worst he’s had since December 19th, 2010 when the Tennessee Titans held him to 1.4 yards per carry. The entire Texans team had only 90 rushing yards, by far their worst of the season.
What’s Next: Green Bay’s road trip continues in St. Louis against the 3-3 Rams. The Packers haven’t fared well against the NFC West so far with a 0-2 record, but St. Louis is also 0-2 against the NFC North (losses to Lions and Bears). The Rams are 3-0 at home and this will be the Packers third straight game in a dome. No reason not to expect the Packers to be favored against the Rams.
What did you think of the Packers win over the Houston Texans? Let me know by commenting below.
Nick Grays is a senior writer at the Sports Bank where he covers the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers. He also enjoys to share Fantasy Advice and pretend to be a Golf expert from time-to-time. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here or visit his blog Nick Knows Best. If social media is not your thing, shoot him an email at grays@uwalumni.com.
Pictures obtained from Packers.com.
The post Aaron Rodgers goes Incredible Hulk in a 42-24 win over the Houston Texans appeared first on The Sports Bank.