Sure is nice to win, isn't it?

After all the angst that followed the Packers' embarrassing loss to Tampa Bay a week ago, it felt good to have a relatively boring game that the Packers controlled from start to finish. They did exactly what good teams do: squashed a lesser opponent with relatively little difficulty. The fact that they did it with a number of key starters out and against a pretty solid offense makes it a bit more impressive.

Games like this make it difficult to find a Game-Changing Play of the Week, because the Packers never really lost their grasp on the game after driving down for a touchdown to start things off. There was, however, one moment late in the first half when it appeared as though the Texans might pull themselves back into the game, only to have that newfound momentum suddenly halted.

The play

Felt like after this kick, the Texans were done for. They started a drive at the 2 and went down into scoring position, but then a penalty killed their momentum and the FG miss sealed the deal. pic.twitter.com/Vyr1BNaU91

— Tim Backes (@timbackes) October 26, 2020

For the purposes of this article I've chosen the Texans' missed second-quarter field goal attempt as the Game-Changing Play of the Week, but could easily have also picked the penalty that really stalled their momentum just a few plays before.

Keep in mind, this is a drive that started on the team's two yard line. For the first time of the game, the Texans were moving effortlesly down the field, and it looked as though a 98-yard touchdown drive was an inevitability. Despite the Packers having cruised to a 14-0 lead and the defense playing some of its best ball of the year, my Twitter feed and mentions were starting to get pretty negative at this point.

The Texans got down to the Packers' five yard line, but a holding penalty on the play that got them there knocked them back into long field goal range, almost a 30-yard swing. It killed the momentum the Texans were building up, and ultimately was a major factor in forcing them to settle for this field goal attempt.

When the Texans missed the field goal, the Packers remained up 14-0, and were given solid field position to start their next drive with two and a half minutes left in the half and a full complement of time outs at their disposal. 

The Packers, of course, efficiently drove the ball down the field, and a Malik Taylor touchdown with just 14 seconds left gave the Packers a 21-0 halftime lead that the team was never in real danger of giving up.

Now, a lot of talk about momentum is conjecture. It's not something tangible or quantifiable, so there's no way to know for sure how this series of events affected the Texans. But I'd have to think that, for a 1-5 ball club that's already fired its coach and had playoff aspirations this season, their psyche has already seen some significant damage. Getting close to the cusp of elimination already, these losses of momentum would, I think, do even more damage to a team as dejected as the Texans than they would to most teams in normal circumstances.

But of course, there's no way to know that for sure. What I do know is that after that botched long drive, the Texans were never again in any real danger of taking the win away from the Packers.