The Morning After: Packers 24 Texans 22

Sunday's 24-22 victory by the Green Bay Packers over the Houston Texans was not the cleanest performance the Packers have had.

They were sloppy. They made silly mistakes. They turned the ball over three times.

Ultimately, however, they did what great teams do.

They found a way to win while they weren't playing their best.

That could be something that bodes well for them in the future.

Sunday's win puts them at 5-2 before a date in Jacksonville against a 2-5 Jaguars team.

After not winning at all in the month of October a year ago, the Packers have a chance to go 4-0 in October with a win over the Jaguars.

That's just another mark of a good team.

That and more on Green Bay's big win over an AFC contender.

Kicker

What a difference a week makes, right?

Last week, Brayden Narveson missed another field goal, adding to his league lead in that regard.

Matt LaFleur cited his sending him back out for another field goal later in the game as reason to believe he was still confident in the young kicker.

Two days later, Narveson was released in favor of veteran Brandon McManus.

McManus did not get time to settle in to his new digs.

He was asked to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.

McManus and Daniel Whelan helped save the day, making the kick as time expired.

LaFleur may have said all the right things publicly about his previous kicker, but the look of relief on his face when asked about McManus in his post game press conference said everything that needed to be said.

After a year plus of riding the roller coaster at kicker, the Packers appear to have a veteran they can trust.

Romeo Doubs

Speaking of a difference that time makes.

Two weeks ago, Romeo Doubs was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team.

Since then, he's been one of the best players on offense.

Doubs has quietly gone about his business, while letting his play do all of the talking.

Doubs was the leading receiver in Sunday's win over the Texans. He caught eight passes for 95 yards.

That included two receptions on the team's final drive of the game.

Doubs may not be as flashy as some of his teammates, but he has been very good when the stakes are high.

He made several big plays a year ago in the biggest games, including being the leading receiver in both playoff games.

As Adam Stenavich said two weeks ago, the Packers are a better team with Doubs.

The last two weeks have proven it.

Jordan Love

Love is certainly a roller coaster, but he's a lot of fun.

He's his own type of player, but he's certainly much more like Brett Favre than he is Aaron Rodgers.

Love's biggest strength, however, is his poise. He has the same demeanor regardless of if the score is 27-0 in his favor, or against him.

That is a trait that helped him with the team needing a field goal late in the game, or suffering another defeat.

“Definitely just try to focus on breathing and slowing the heart rate down,” Love said of his mindset entering the final drive. “Just trying to focus on the details of the plays.”

Ultimately, this was not Love's finest hour. Both interceptions he threw are plays that he will want back.

The big plays, however, outweighed the bad ones.

That included his execution on a do-or-die drive in the fourth quarter that led to a game-winning field goal.

For Love? That was just another drive.

“My mindset is just make it another drive,” Love said. “There’s a lot of pressure, the game on the line, so I think if you let the moment get to big, you're not going to be able to go out there and execute the way you want to.”

Rashan Gary

Nothing crazy here, just an interesting observation that the Packers were using Gary similarly to a way they used Za'Darius Smith when Mike Pettine was the defensive coordinator.

Gary did not have a four sack game or anything like that, but he's been much more disruptive the last two weeks.

The results should be coming sooner than later.

Pass Defense

What a day by this group. Holding CJ Stroud to less than 100 yards? There are not enough superlatives to explain how impressive that is.

Yes, they were missing Nico Collins, but there were plenty of capable players on Houston's side.

The Packers pressured Stroud on 12 of his 14 third down dropbacks.

This group did yeoman's work in what was its biggest challenge to date.

Jeff Hafley

A game ball for the new defensive coordinator and it was certainly deserved.

Hafley's game plan to slow down Stroud and the Texans was brilliant.

The way he's mixed and matched personnel has been mostly brilliant during his short tenure as the Packers' defensive coordinator

He has some big challenges in front of him, but there's no question that the Packers upgraded by tabbing Hafley to replace former defensive coordinator Joe Barry.

Related: Sunday Six-Pack: Packers New Kicker Drills Field Goal as Time Expires.