4 Winners & 4 losers in Texans frustrating Week 7 loss to Packers

A road loss in Green Bay dropped the Houston Texans to 5-2 on the season. While they're likely to be frustrated with themselves for losing on a last-second field goal, there were still positives to take away from this game.

Houston was short five starters on defense but still had a chance to win it at the end of the game. They even won the turnover battle, 3-0. The problem was their offense couldn't get the passing game going and that proved to be their downfall.

With all that being said, let's see who stood out as the winners and losers in Week 7.

Winner: Neville Hewitt, LB

All the injuries on defense made it tough on the Texans but several players stood up and gave them a shot. Of course, Derek Stingley, Will Anderson, Jr., and Danielle Hunter all had good days. So did Neville Hewitt, which they needed due to the absence of Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To'oTo'o.

Hewitt had an interception on the opening drive and ran the ball back 45 yards to set up the first field goal. He also stuffed Jayden Reed on a key third-down run to force a punt. Hewitt finished with a team-high nine tackles and deserves credit for the work he did.

Loser: D'Angelo Ross, CB

With Kamari Lassiter out due to an injury, D'Angelo Ross was thrust into a starting role. It was never going to be easy given the talent Green Bay has at wideout, but the absence of one of their starters made it more of a daunting task. Unfortunately for Ross, he didn't have his best performance.

Ross gave up a first-down reception to Bo Melton on third-and-five late in the first quarter. That drive ended with a touchdown when Jordan Love hit Tucker Kraft from 14 yards out. Ross was again on the wrong end of a big play when Love went deep for Dontayvion Wicks in the second quarter. Wicks had Ross beat and pulled in the pass for a 30-yard touchdown, giving the Packers a 14-10 lead.

Winner: Calen Bullock, S

A rookie third-round pick, Calen Bullock has been playing well this season and has risen to the occasion with Jimmie Ward out. The USC product entered Week 7 as the only rookie with two interceptions. He extended his lead over all other rookies by picking up his third interception of the year.

With Jordan Love looking deep for Christian Watson, Bullock hauled in the overthrow and gave his team the ball at the Houston 43. They were unable to take the lead back but did score a second field goal, making it a 14-13 game. He nearly had a second pick on the final drive, which would have ended the game, but he still had a great performance.

Loser: Eric Murray, CB

With Houston up 7-3, the Packers were attempting to take the lead back. Their drive appeared to hit a potential stopping point when Jordan Love's pass to Jayden Reed fell incomplete on second-and-11. They were bailed out, however, by a penalty flag.

Veteran defensive back M.J. Stewart was flagged for pass interference. That moved the ball from the Green Bay 40 to the Houston 30. It also set them up for a 30-yard touchdown pass, which put them up by seven. Perhaps that doesn't happen if Murray isn't flagged.

Winner: Ka'dar Hollman, CB

Houston's offense had a hard time making anything happen, which is why they needed their defense and special teams to rise to the occasion to keep them in this game. That's what Ka'dar Hollman did in the third quarter when he made a great one-on-one tackle when chasing down Jayden Reed on a punt return.

Tommy Townsend sent a punt 66 yards and Reed grabbed it near the goal line, rather than letting it go for a touchback. Hollman made him pay for the gaffe when he took the returner down at the four-yard line.

Houston's defense held on a third-and-one with Nevile Hewitt blowing up a run for Reed. That forced a three-and-out, giving the ball right back to their offense.

Loser: C.J. Stroud, QB

This was easily the worst game of the season for C.J. Stroud. The second-year quarterback was just 10-of-21 for 86 yards on the day.

Not all of the issues were his fault. The offensive line was a major concern and Stroud was sacked four times. Three of those were on third down and when he wasn't sacked, he had pressure in his face.

Stroud nearly found a way to pull it out, even connecting with Xavier Hutchinson for an 11-yard gain on a key third down late in the game. He also made a mistake when he threw a pass to the sideline on third-and-15 with under two minutes to go. His throw to Tank Dell was incomplete but even if the wideout hauled it in, he would have slid out of bounds and stopped the clock.

Taking a sack would have been better since it would have forced Green Bay to use a timeout. Instead, it gave Jordan Love and the Green Bay offense a timeout to work with.

Winner: Joe Mixon, RB

Finally, back on the field in Week 6, Joe Mixon ran for 102 yards and scored twice against the Patriots. This weekend, he picked up where he left off.

Mixon had 81 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. His first touchdown was early in the second quarter, putting the Texans up 10-7. They went into the break with a 19-14 lead when he scored from four yards out.

Mixon had 115 yards and two touchdowns on 25 attempts. The offense struggled all day and Mixon was the only one they could count on. He nearly carried them to a win but in the end, his best effort couldn't make up for a poor offensive outing.

Loser: DeMeco Ryans, Head Coach

Since being selected as the head coach for the Houston Texans in 2023, DeMeco Ryans has done an outstanding job. That doesn't mean he's perfect and he proved it on Sunday.

One issue was right before the Packers scored a 30-yard touchdown from Love to Wicks. Love threw a short pass to Jayden Reed that fell incomplete. The pass was questionable and could have been considered a lateral — and there was a clear recovery by Houston. Ryans elected not to challenge and the next play was a touchdown.

His next issue was clock management. Once they got into scoring range, they decided to run twice before throwing an ill-advised pass on third down that was incomplete. That saved a timeout for Green Bay, who needed the entire clock to win. Perhaps forcing them to take their final timeout would have been more prudent, especially since they weren't even throwing for a first down.

Ryan should be proud of his players and can use this game to motivate them going forward. Despite facing long odds, they nearly pulled it off. Had he made a few different decisions, they might have. The key will be finding a way for him — and his players — to learn from this one.

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