GREEN BAY – The Houston Texans won't have injured star receiver Nico Collins for next Sunday's matchup with the Packers.
But they're still bringing plenty of firepower to Lambeau Field.
Houston running back Joe Mixon returned from a three-game injury absence this past week to rush for 102 yards and a touchdown, including a 59-yard jaunt, on just 13 carries in the Texans' 41-21 blowout of the Patriots.
Mixon added a receiving TD as well, while wideouts Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs combined for 13 catches, 134 yards and two more scores from second-year QB and rising star C.J. Stroud.
Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur was just getting started on his study of Houston when he met with the media Monday, but he's already plenty impressed with the Texans beyond their AFC South-leading 5-1 record.
"They've got a lot of weapons," LaFleur said, even without Collins, who had 567 receiving yards through five games before going down with a hamstring injury. "I still think it's a very explosive offense."
Defensively, the Texans are getting it done, too. They rank third in the league in total yards allowed per game and fourth in passing yards allowed at just 163 per contest. They are more middle of the pack against the run (13th) and in points allowed (16th), and they have a modest seven takeaways on the year.
The defense is led by rush end Will Anderson and his 5½ sacks, with four other players, led by former Viking Danielle Hunter (2½), chipping in at least two sacks each thus far. Though one of those, Mario Edwards, was just suspended four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
Houston's only loss was to Minnesota, which sits atop the NFC North at 5-0. The division is shaping up to be perhaps the league's toughest in 2024, with Detroit in second place at 4-1 followed by the Packers and Bears both at 4-2.
That's four division rivals with at least four wins each through six weeks of the season, the first time that's occurred since the current divisional alignment was implemented in 2002.
So far, there's been only one game pitting NFC North teams against one another, Minnesota's win at Green Bay two weeks ago.
"It will get interesting once we all start playing each other," LaFleur said.
But that's a concern for another day.
"You just focus on the task at hand, and right now we've got a team that's 5-1 coming into our place," LaFleur said. "So if we're worried about anything other than the Houston Texans, then we're worried about the wrong thing."
