Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) @ Houston Texans (0-1)
Monday, September 15, 7:00 PM ET
If anyone was hoping that last year’s regular season struggles for the Houston Texans were just a mirage, it looks like they might have just regressed to the mean. The Texans still have way too much talent not to be a factor this year, especially in the AFC South, but they’re in an early 0-1 hole and have to quickly find their way out.
This is a sneaky great matchup this week, even though the Bucs and Texans don’t really receive all that much national hype. The storyline for Houston has got to be figuring out a way to get that offense going with Stroud returning to the form we’ve seen from him when he’s at his best. After putting up nine points in Week 1 against the Rams, struggling on third downs, and having just seven passing first downs, there’s nowhere to go but up, right?
The Buccaneers snuck one out against their division rival Falcons in Week 1 as Baker Mayfield engineered a game-winning drive, capped off with a touchdown to stud rookie Emeka Egbuka. The early reviews on Egbuka this offseason were overwhelmingly positive, and after catching two touchdowns in his debut, it’s easy to see why the Bucs would have forsaken more pressing needs to take such a great-looking young player.
This is going to be a fun game to watch from a chess match perspective. Both of these teams are capable of playing tight defense, and both are capable of fireworks on offense. I’m leaning toward the Bucs in a tight-scoring game, but Vegas has the Texans as early 2.5-point favorites at home under the lights.
Prediction: Buccaneers win 25-22