GREEN BAY, Wis. — — Brandon McManus insisted he hadn’t deliberate to do a “Lambeau leap” if he made a successful subject objective in his Inexperienced Bay Packers debut.
However when he kicked a 45-yard subject objective as time expired to present Inexperienced Bay a 24-22 victory over Houston on Sunday, McManus could not assist himself.
He jumped into the nook of the end-zone stands to have fun with the Lambeau Area crowd.
“I figured it’d be cool to do this,” McManus mentioned. “I undoubtedly must work on my hops. I don’t follow leaping that a lot anymore.”
Inexperienced Bay (5-2) overcame three turnovers to win its third straight and snap Houston’s three-game successful streak.
“It wasn’t excellent, undoubtedly was not excellent,” mentioned Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who went 23 of 31 for 214 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. “Quite a lot of errors. However we discovered a approach to win, and that’s what it’s all about.”
McManus’ kick represented the most recent chapter in an eventful yr for him.
He had been out of a job for the reason that summer time, when two girls sued him and the Jacksonville Jaguars in civil court docket alleging he sexually assaulted them after they have been working as flight attendants on the Jaguars’ journey to London final yr.
The NFL mentioned late final month it didn’t discover ample proof that McManus violated the non-public conduct coverage. Legal professionals representing McManus and the ladies mentioned the civil case had been resolved.
The Packers launched rookie Brayden Narveson and signed McManus on Wednesday, trusting the 33-year-old veteran’s reliability. McManus has revamped 90% of his profession field-goal makes an attempt from lower than 50 yards, whereas Narveson had gone 12 of 17 with out making an attempt any from past 49 yards.
McManus answered the decision Sunday.
Even after the Texans known as timeout as he tried his first kick, McManus delivered the second time. Packers holder Daniel Whelan did a pleasant job getting the ball down for McManus after fielding a low snap.
“I at all times need a follow kick if I can,” McManus mentioned. “It was slightly windy immediately, simply seeing the place the wind may transfer the ball.”
Houston’s Joe Mixon rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. Ka’imi Fairbairn was 3 of three on field-goal makes an attempt and put the Texans (5-2) forward by making a 35-yarder with 1:44 left.
C.J. Stroud was simply 10 of 21 for a career-low 86 yards and was sacked 4 instances in a sport that had seven lead modifications.
“Clearly, we didn’t go the ball effectively all day,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans mentioned. “So, it wasn’t good all the best way round. We ran the ball effectively. I believed Joe did a superb job working the ball. We wanted to go it. It was not ok, beginning with the safety. If we are able to’t shield, then that’s going to be troublesome for the quarterback to make the performs.”
Houston nonetheless practically pulled off what would have been a exceptional victory, contemplating all of the gamers the Texans have been lacking.
The Texans did not have 5 defensive starters with deal with Mario Edwards Jr. serving a suspension whereas linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To’oTo’o, cornerback Kamari Lassiter and security Jimmie Ward have been out with accidents. Houston additionally performed with out injured receivers Nico Collins and Robert Woods, in addition to receiver/punt returner Steven Sims.
Houston was looking for its first four-game successful streak since 2018, when the Texans received 9 in a row. The feelings of this sport have been evident even earlier than the opening kickoff, as Texans receiver Stefon Diggs exchanged phrases and shoves with Packers cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Keisean Nixon.
The Texans constructed a 19-14 halftime lead by scoring 16 factors off three Packers turnovers.
Josh Jacobs put the Packers forward halfway by way of the third quarter when he received his first profession landing catch — on the sixth-year professional’s 212th total reception. Jacobs had the NFL report for many profession catches and not using a landing reception.
“It was lengthy overdue,” Jacobs mentioned. “We talked about all of it week at follow that, ‘Man, that is the week that we’re going to get (it).’ We had like three or 4 performs within the purple zone for me.”
However the Packers went three-and-out on their subsequent three possessions, permitting the Texans to come back again once more on Fairbairn’s final subject objective. Inexperienced Bay trailed 22-21 when it received the ball at its personal 30 with one timeout remaining.
“It’s a two-minute drive, we’d like a subject objective, we all know what we have to do,” Love mentioned. “So the mindset is simply go win the sport.”
The Packers have been at midfield when Love hit Romeo Doubs for a 13-yard achieve. An offside penalty on Houston’s Will Anderson introduced the Packers 5 yards nearer. After a 6-yard completion from Like to Doubs received Inexperienced Bay to Houston’s 26, the Packers known as a timeout with 3 seconds left to set issues up for McManus.
“He is a vet,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur mentioned. “You possibly can see it. The second’s not too large for him. Clearly that was a big-time kick.”
Accidents
Packers LB Quay Walker left within the first half to get evaluated for a concussion after teammate Kingsley Enagbare’s leg inadvertently hit him within the head on the finish of a play.
Up subsequent
Texans: Host the Indianapolis Colts subsequent Sunday.
Packers: Go to the Jacksonville Jaguars subsequent Sunday.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL