The Houston Texans will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the home opener on Monday night football. Houston is 0-1 on the season and Tampa Bay is 1-0 on the season.
It is a surprise that the Texans are favored by 2.5 points at home against the Buccaneers. Houston's offense did not look good in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams. The Texans defense will look to slow down Baker Mayfield on Monday night. Is there a chance that Houston can pull off the upset against Tampa Bay despite being the home favorite?
NFL Insider Predicts the Houston Texans Will Beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2
There is no doubt that that Houston's offense led by quarterback C.J. Stroud is going to have to play better in Week 2 against Tampa Bay. The Texans offensive line struggled against the Rams, but the Rams are going to make a lot of offensive lines look foolish this season. The Buccaneers defense was allowing the Atlanta Falcons to move the ball up and down the field on them last week.
Pete Prisco of CBS Sports made his Week 2 predictions for the 2025 NFL season. He has the Texans upsetting the Buccaneers by a final score of 23-17. Prisco said,
"The Bucs are playing back-to-back road games, while the Texans are playing their home opener. That's never a good combination. But the Texans have offensive line issues that could be at play in this one. Even so, I think the Texans will find a way behind their dominant defense to win this one. "
The only path that Houston has to win in this game is to win the turnover battle and also keep quarterback Baker Mayfield on the sidelines. Even against a good Texans defense, Mayfield will find a way to get the ball to Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka. Going on the road in back-to-back weeks for Tampa Bay is a tough ask like Prisco said, but they are the better team on paper than Houston is.
It feels like that this game could be something like 30-21 Tampa Bay over Houston. If the Texans do fall to 0-2, there could be some concerns for DeMeco Ryans squad moving forward.
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