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Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers are in Houston taking over C.J. Stroud and the Texans in an early-season conflict between two playoff contenders.
Observe beneath for perception and evaluation from The Athletic’s group of NFL reporters.
Q1 10:28 – Texans 7, Bucs 0
Wow! Baker Mayfield is VERY lucky that cross wasn't picked off. Severely underthrown ball meant for Emeka Egbuka, that was practically intercepted by Azeez Al-Shaair.
The Texans linebacker couldn't corral the ball. Tampa retains occurring offense.
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Q1 11:05 – Texans 7, Bucs 0
Baker Mayfield is dealing with strain early on this sport from this potent Texans protection. On third-and-6, the Bucs quarterback finds Mike Evans for the eight-yard reception.
Tampa Bay’s drive retains going. A pleasant begin for Evans, the Texas A&M alum who grew up in close by Galveston, Texas.
Earlier at this time, I wrote that I felt more confident in backing the under (the entire was at 42.5 on betMGM earlier than kickoff) than selecting a winner.
Naturally, we now have a landing on the opening drive with simply over three minutes of sport time elapsed.
What a throw from C.J. Stroud and catch from Nico Collins.
The important thing on that drive was the display screen cross catch-and-run from Nick Chubb for 27 yards. Chubb appeared comfy slicing in the course of that run generally, appears as wholesome as he has been in a couple of seasons.
After 4 agonizing quarters of offensive soccer in opposition to the Rams final week, Houston finds the tip zone.
The Houston Texans didn’t get any performs final week of 25-plus yards on offense. They’ve two on the opening drive: one on a display screen cross to Nick Chubb (27 yards) and the opposite to Nico Collins for the landing reception (29 yards).
Large begin for the Texans offense, who solely put up 9 factors in a Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Boy, that was not the beginning the Bucs’ protection needed on this sport. The Texans went proper down the sphere, and Tampa Bay didn’t put up a lot resistance. It must get higher if the Bucs are going to stay undefeated tonight.
Houston lined the 64 yards in simply six performs. The Bucs must tighten up shortly.
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Q1 11:58 – Texans 7, Bucs 0
The ruling on the sphere stands. Nico Collins will get each ft in bounds, finishing the 29-yard landing reception.
What an excellent catch from the Texans receiver. It’s Houston’s first landing of the 2025 season.
Q1 11:58 – Bucs 0, Texans 0
Nick Chubb will get the primary down with a 27-yard display screen reception. Then, C.J. Stroud takes a shot to the tip zone the place Nico Collins makes the catch.
The ruling on the sphere is a landing however the play is underneath overview. Did the Texans receiver get each ft in bounds to finish the catch?
Q1 14:53 – Bucs 0, Texans 0
A pleasant kickoff return for Texans receiver Jaylin Noel. He goes 33 yards on the return, placing the Texans on the 36-yard line to start out.
Q1 15:00 – Bucs 0, Texans 0
We’re underway from Houston with the Texans getting the ball first.
Hell yeah. That is what it’s all about.
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The Texans didn’t discover the tip zone final week in opposition to the Rams and a few of that needed to do with WR Nico Collins not exhibiting up on the stat sheet a lot.
Houston’s prime receiver was focused 5 instances in Week 1, catching three of these passes for 25 yards. It’s a remarkably low goal share and output for Collins, who’s confirmed to be C.J. Stroud's most dependable weapon.
Count on that to vary tonight. The Bucs received't be shy in attempting to restrict Collins, although. Whereas tight finish Dalton Schultz is within the combine, free-agent acquisition Christian Kirk (hamstring) is out and throughout from Collins are two rookie WRs in Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins.
However the Texans can’t win with out Nico Collins seeing extra targets.
The Texans’ offensive line is in flux, however can the Buccaneers take benefit? That they had just one sack final week in opposition to the Falcons to open the season.
They should be higher tonight and get off the sphere once they have the prospect. The Falcons dominated the time of possession in that sport (35:12 to 24:48) with 23 first downs and 358 yards to 16 and 260 for the Bucs.
In a sport that had no turnovers, it’s type of a miracle that the Bucs received. They may want extra from the protection tonight to enhance to 2-0.
Since Todd Bowles took over as Buccaneers head coach in 2022, Tampa Bay is undefeated in Weeks 1 and a couple of — the one NFL group to carry that distinction over that span, per ESPN.
It’s all anybody ever needs to speak about with the Texans as of late.
In opposition to the Rams in Week 1, Houston gave up strain on 41.2 % of C.J. Stroud’s dropbacks. Stroud was sacked 3 times and hit seven instances within the 14-9 loss. This got here after an offseason throughout which the offensive line was revamped, led by LT Laremy Tunsil’s commerce to the Commanders. Stroud was sacked 55 instances in 2024.
The offensive line’s Week 1 efficiency comes with a caveat, although. Guard Ed Ingram (stomach) missed the sport, which shuffled the road on the fly. It pushed Cam Robinson into the beginning lineup at left deal with and extremely regarded rookie Aireontae Ersery to proper deal with, with Tytus Howard having to modify to protect, which he has performed usually.
The offensive line Houston appeared most assured in on the finish of coaching camp had Ersery at left deal with and Howard at proper deal with, with Robinson as depth and Ingram beginning at proper guard. Ingram practiced all week and is beginning tonight.
NRG Stadium in Houston simply held a second of silence “to honor all victims of violence and pure disasters throughout the nation.” The general public handle announcer added, “It's our hope that collectively we are able to finish all types of violence.”
Following the homicide of Charlie Kirk final week, a second of silence was held in his honor earlier than Thursday night time's sport between the Commanders and Packers in Inexperienced Bay. The NFL then mentioned on Friday that it could be as much as the person golf equipment whether or not or not they maintain moments of silence throughout the remainder of Week 2.
The Texans' announcement didn’t point out Kirk by title.
GO FURTHER
NFL explains choice to carry second of silence for Charlie Kirk earlier than ‘Thursday Evening Soccer’
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Nick Chubb is seeking to attain a statistical milestone tonight when he fits up for the Houston Texans. With 55 scrimmage yards tonight in opposition to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chubb will grow to be the tenth lively working again within the NFL to succeed in 8,000 profession scrimmage yards.
The 29-year-old may have achieved this with underneath 90 video games performed, the sixth lively RB to take action. That is Chubb's 87th profession sport tonight.
Emeka Egbuka, the Bucs’ first-round decide in April, had 4 catches for 67 yards within the group’s season-opening win over Atlanta. He added two landing catches, together with the game-winner with 59 seconds to play.
So what is going to he do for an encore tonight in his first prime-time sport within the NFL? That might be must-see.
It was a wild, high-scoring day in fantasy soccer yesterday. That resulted in lots of fantasy managers needing a Monday night time miracle in tonight’s doubleheader to salvage a win.
I requested our chatters in The Athletic Discord chat room (join here) what number of factors they want for his or her respective miracles. The outcomes had been throughout the board, with most needing wherever from 20-40 factors.
