Green Bay Packers 21, Houston Texans 13
Here are the highest-graded players and most noteworthy performances from the Packers' Week 13 victory over the Texans.
Quarterback grade: Brock Osweiler, 51.3
Osweiler continues to earn below-average marks
This was one of the better games we’ve seen from Brock Osweiler, and yet it was still a weak effort overall. You don’t like to write a guy off, and the Texans have made such an investment that you almost have to treat this as a rookie year, but there’s not a whole lot to get excited about when you watch him play. For the most part, Osweiler avoided turnover-worthy plays, but that was in part the result of a relatively conservative offense (all but four of Osweiler's completions were thrown less than 10 yards in air) that didn’t challenge the Packers' beat-up on cornerbacks. The conditions weren’t easy, but then again, it doesn't ever appear easy for Houston at QB lately.
Top offensive grades:
RT Chris Clark, 76.6
LT Duane Brown, 72.8
C Greg Mancz, 71.6
RB Jonathan Grimes, 68.9
TE C.J. Fiedorowicz, 66.4
Texans' offensive line does its part
The Texans' top offensive grades tell the story of an offense that struggled with the conditions, with the opposition, and at times, just the whole game. They’re not good enough to survive fumbles or drops that ends drives, and while the offensive line held up well for the most part, there wasn’t enough going on with the skill position players to maximize what wins they had.
Top defensive grades:
CB Johnathan Joseph, 82.9
S Quintin Demps, 82.4
LB Brian Cushing, 80.6
CB A.J. Bouye, 80.5
S Corey Moore, 72.2
Houston secondary solid despite lack of pass-rush
This was a tough game for the Houston secondary, and not because they were getting beat up. They were just being asked to do an awful lot in tricky conditions. The non-existent pass-rush meant that QB Aaron Rodgers had lots of time in the pocket to work through his progressions (and work back, if he so desired), with his 3.53 average time to throw about as high as it gets in this league. To put into context how trouble-free he was, his average on the year before this game was 2.93 seconds to throw. So, credit therefore goes to the Texans' secondary that it didn’t allow more big plays, because when you’re asked to cover for that long, bad things normally happen.
Quarterback grade: Aaron Rodgers, 74.7
Rodgers delivers in Packers' win
This was a good showing from Aaron Rodgers, without needing to be great. The key here was avoiding turnovers, and though he did not manage this on the first drive on a botched snap, his passing was never really in danger of giving the Texans the field position they would need to score. It was real case of getting the job done in this one against a Houston defense that didn’t come after him (just five blitzes).
Top offensive grades:
WR Jordy Nelson, 87.3
LG Lane Taylor, 84.2
FB Aaron Ripkowski, 82.3
RT Bryan Bulaga, 80.7
C Corey Linsley, 79.9
Wide receiver Jordy Nelson shines despite snowy conditions
It was never going to be easy for the skill players to make their mark with the snow coming down. One player stood head and shoulders above the rest, however, and that man was Jordy Nelson. He didn’t always get the separation you like to see, but his body-positioning and catches with coverage on him where the highlight of a generally dreary affair. Outside of him, the O-line as a unit was the star of the show. They Packers' offensive linemen made it seem as though the Texans weren’t even trying to rush the passer, such was their dominance.
Top defensive grades:
CB LaDarius Gunter, 92.0
DE Mike Daniels, 84.6
LB Joe Thomas, 83.0
CB Quinten Rollins, 82.7
DE Dean Lowry, 79.5
LaDarius Gunter with a clean sheet in coverage
This was a good game for the cornerbacks (outside of a touchdown allowed at the end), as they forced a fumble and broke up five passes whenever Osweiler came close to testing them. Gunter has had something of an up and down year, but he was very much up in this one, breaking up both targets that came his way and not allowing a catch all game.
PFF Game-Ball: Jordy Nelson, WR, Packers
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