Brandon McManus said he hadn’t planned to do a “Lambeau leap” if he made a winning field goal in his first game with the Green Bay Packers. However, when he kicked a 45-yard field goal as time ran out to secure a 24-22 victory over Houston on Sunday, he couldn’t resist celebrating by jumping into the stands at Lambeau Field.
“I figured it’d be cool to do that,” McManus said. “I definitely need to work on my hops. I don’t practice jumping that much anymore.”
Green Bay (5-2) managed to win despite committing three turnovers, marking their third straight victory and ending Houston’s three-game winning streak.
“It wasn’t perfect, definitely was not perfect,” said Packers quarterback Jordan Love, who completed 24 of 33 passes for 220 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. “A lot of mistakes. But we found a way to win, and that’s what it’s all about.”
McManus’ kick adds to an eventful year for him. He had been without a job since the summer when two women sued him and the Jacksonville Jaguars, claiming he sexually assaulted them while they worked as flight attendants on a Jaguars trip to London last year.
The NFL announced last month that it did not find enough evidence to say McManus violated the personal conduct policy. Lawyers for both McManus and the women stated that the civil case had been resolved.
The Packers released rookie Brayden Narveson and signed McManus on Wednesday, trusting the 33-year-old veteran’s experience. McManus has made over 90% of his career field-goal attempts from under 50 yards, while Narveson had converted 12 of 17 without attempting any kicks longer than 49 yards.
McManus stepped up on Sunday. Even after the Texans called a timeout during his first kick attempt, he successfully made the kick the second time. Packers holder Daniel Whelan did a good job getting the ball set for McManus after catching a low snap.
“I always want a practice kick if I can,” McManus said. “It was a little windy today, just seeing where the wind might move the ball.”
Houston’s Joe Mixon ran for 115 yards and scored two touchdowns on 25 carries. Ka’imi Fairbairn successfully kicked three field goals, putting the Texans (5-2) ahead with a 35-yarder with 1:44 left in the game.
C.J. Stroud completed only 10 of 21 passes for a career-low 86 yards and was sacked four times in a game that saw seven lead changes.
“Obviously, we didn’t pass the ball well all day,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “So, it wasn’t good all the way around. We ran the ball well. I thought Joe did a good job running the ball. We needed to pass it. It was not good enough, starting with the protection. If we can’t protect, then that’s going to be difficult for the quarterback to make the plays.”
Despite missing many key players, the Texans almost managed to pull off a surprising win. They were without five defensive starters, with tackle Mario Edwards Jr. suspended and linebackers Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To’oTo’o, cornerback Kamari Lassiter, and safety Jimmie Ward sidelined due to injuries.
Houston also played without injured receivers Nico Collins and Robert Woods, as well as receiver/punt returner Steven Sims.
Houston was aiming for its first four-game winning streak since 2018, when the Texans had nine straight wins. The emotions were clear even before the game started, as Texans receiver Stefon Diggs had some heated exchanges with Packers cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Keisean Nixon.
The Texans took a 19-14 lead at halftime by scoring 16 points off three turnovers made by the Packers.
Josh Jacobs gave the Packers the lead midway through the third quarter by catching his first career touchdown pass on his 212th overall reception. Jacobs held the NFL record for the most catches without a touchdown.
“It was long overdue,” said Jacobs, who also had 12 carries for 76 yards. “We talked about it all week at practice that, ‘Man, this is the week that we’re going to get (it).’ We had like three or four plays in the red zone for me.”
However, the Packers went three-and-out on their next three possessions, allowing the Texans to regain the lead with Fairbairn’s last field goal. Green Bay was down 22-21 when they got the ball at their own 30-yard line with one timeout left.
“It’s a two-minute drive, we need a field goal, we know what we need to do,” Love said. “So the mindset is just go win the game.”
The Packers reached midfield when Love completed a 13-yard pass to Romeo Doubs. An offside penalty on Houston’s Will Anderson brought the Packers 5 yards closer. After a 6-yard completion from Love to Doubs got them to Houston’s 26-yard line, the Packers called a timeout with 3 seconds left to set up for McManus.
“He’s a vet,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “You can see it. The moment’s not too big for him. Obviously that was a big-time kick.”
