Aaron Rodgers tossed four touchdown passes, including a pair to Davante Adams, as the Green Bay Packers rolled to a 35-20 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday at NRG Stadium.
Rodgers and the Packers' offense enjoyed a bounce-back effort following the poor showing last Sunday in Tampa Bay. Rodgers went 23-of-34 for 283 yards as the Packers (5-1) amassed 22 first downs and went 7-for-12 on third down against Houston (1-6) and its 30th-ranked defense.
Adams notched his second 150-plus-yard, two-touchdown game on the road this season, recording a career-high 13 receptions for 196 yards and touchdowns of 3 and 45 yards.
Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson passed for 309 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked three times. Houston kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn missed a 41-yard field goal in the second quarter after a holding penalty on Nick Martin erased a 16-yard gain to the Green Bay 5-yard line and snuffed any shot the Texans had for generating momentum before intermission.
The Packers wasted little time asserting themselves offensively, covering 75 yards over 10 plays on their opening possession, a drive aided by a pair of Houston defensive penalties. Rodgers and Adams posted the first of their two scoring connections as Green Bay grabbed a 7-0 lead.
After the Texans punted on their opening possession for the seventh time, the only team to do so in every game, Rodgers hit Jace Sternberger on a 3-yard scoring pass for a 14-0 lead with 13:33 left in the first half. The Packers responded to the Fairbairn missed kick with a nine-play, 69-yard drive that culminated in a 1-yard Rodgers scoring pass to Malik Taylor with 14 seconds left.
Even when the Texans found a measure of rhythm offensively, their defense responded by surrendering a scoring drive. Watson tossed a 3-yard touchdown pass to David Johnson with 8:55 left in the third quarter that cut the deficit to 21-7, only for Adams to snag a 45-yard touchdown pass on third down on the ensuing Packers possession.
Houston followed by squandering a blocked punt by Buddy Howell that yielded possession at the Green Bay 22 and settled for a second consecutive sub-40-yard field goal. Packers safety Adrian Amos sacked Watson on the previous Texans possession to thwart a potential touchdown march for Houston.
--Field Level Media
Green Bay | Houston | |
Jamaal Williams | Player | David Johnson |
19 | Attempts | 14 |
77 | Yards | 42 |
4.0 | Avg Yards | 3.0 |
1 | Touchdowns | 0 |
13 | Long | 13 |
Green Bay | Houston | |
Davante Adams | Player | Randall Cobb |
13 | Receptions | 8 |
196 | Yards | 95 |
15.1 | Avg Yards | 11.9 |
2 | Touchdowns | 0 |
45 | Long | 28 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
Green Bay | 379 | 96 | 283 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | 2 |
Houston | 365 | 79 | 286 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |