Stroud, Texans look to bounce back after season-opening loss when they host Mayfield, Bucs on Monday

By Canadian Press on September 11, 2025.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) at Houston (0-1)

Monday, 7 p.m. EDT, ESPN, ABC.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Texans by 2 1/2.

Against the spread: Buccaneers 1-0; Texans 0-1.

Series record: Texans lead 5-1.

Last meeting: Texans beat Buccaneers 39-37 on Nov. 5, 2023, in Houston.

Last week: Buccaneers beat Falcons 23-20; Texans lost to Rams 14-9.

Buccaneers offense: overall (24), rush (17), pass (22), scoring (12)

Buccaneers defense: overall (23), rush (7), pass (29), scoring (17)

Texans offense: overall (23), rush (13), pass (24), scoring (30)

Texans defense: overall (14), rush (9), pass (23), scoring (10)

Turnover differential: Buccaneers even; Texans minus-1

Buccaneers player to watch

WR Emeka Egbuka. The rookie first-round pick had two TD catches in his debut, including the game-winning score late in the fourth quarter. Egbuka finished with four catches for 67 yards, including TD grabs of 30 and 25 yards. Playing opposite six-time Pro Bowl WR Mike Evans should allow Egbuka to draw single coverage. Evans told reporters Egbuka told Baker Mayfield he’d been open on a post route before catching the go-ahead score in the victory over Atlanta.

Texans player to watch

QB C.J. Stroud: He threw a career-high five touchdown passes with a rookie-record 470 yards to lift the Texans to the 39-37 win in his only meeting with the Buccaneers in 2023. Houston trailed with less than a minute to go before he led a six-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 15-yard TD throw to Tank Dell to complete the comeback. This week Stroud, who threw for just 188 yards without a score in Week 1, will face a defense that ranks 29th in the NFL after allowing 289 yards passing in the first game.

Key matchup

Buccaneers right tackle Luke Goedeke has a tough task in facing Texans defensive end Will Anderson. Tampa reshuffled its offensive line in the opener to make up for Tristan Wirfs’ absence, but Goedeke is entrenched on the right side. Anderson, the No. 3 overall pick in 2023, had one sack last week against Matthew Stafford. He was the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and followed that up with 11 sacks in 2024 along with 58 quarterback pressures.

Key injuries

Buccaneers: All-Pro LT Tristan Wirfs, WR Chris Godwin (ankle) and WR Jalen McMillan (neck) are out. CB Benjamin Morrison (hamstring) and S Christian Izien (oblique) missed the opener.

Texans: TE Cade Stover was placed on the injured reserve this week after sustaining a foot injury in Week 1. … Coach DeMeco Ryans said C Jake Andrews is day to day this week with an ankle injury he sustained against the Rams. … WRs Christian Kirk and Braxton Berrios could make their debuts with the team after both missed the first game with hamstring injuries.

Series notes

The Texans have won the past five games in this series. … Tampa Bay’s only win came in a 16-3 victory in the first meeting between these teams in 2003. … This will be the second straight game in the series that will be played in Houston. … The Texans have outscored the Buccaneers 149-105 in the series.

Stats and stuff

Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield leads the NFL with 72 TD passes since 2023. He had three TD passes and no interceptions vs. Atlanta. It was his sixth straight start with at least two TD passes. … The Bucs have rushed for more than 100 yards in 15 games since start of last season. … RB Bucky Irving had his first career TD reception last week. … WR Mike Evans has at least five catches in each of his past six games and 50-plus yards receiving in eight straight. Evans has caught a TD pass in eight of his nine games on “Monday Night Football.” … WR Emeka Egbuka became the second player since 1970 with a game-winning reception in the final minute of his first career game, joining Ernest Wilford, who did it with Jacksonville in 2004. … LB Haason Reddick had the team’s only sack against the Falcons. … PR Kameron Johnson’s 53-yard return last week was the team’s longest Oct. 11, 2015. … P Riley Dixon had a 51.3 average on four punts in his debut with the team. … Texans RB Nick Chubb had 60 yards rushing in his debut with the team last week. He had 116 yards rushing and a touchdown in his previous game against Tampa Bay in 2022 while with Cleveland. … WR Nico Collins had a touchdown reception in five of his six home games last season. He had 54 yards receiving with a TD in his previous game against Tampa Bay. … WR Christian Kirk had six catches for a career-high 138 yards and three touchdowns in his only career game against the Buccaneers in 2019 while with the Cardinals. … WR Justin Watson played for Tampa Bay from 2018-21. … TE Dalton Schultz had 10 receptions for 130 yards — both career highs — and a TD catch in the perevious meeting with Tampa Bay. … DE Danielle Hunter had his fifth career fumble recovery in Week 1. He had eight sacks in eight home games last season. … DT Folorunso Fatukasi had a sack last week. … LB Henry To’oTo’o had six tackles and a sack and defended a pass last week. He forced a fumble in his previous game against the Buccaneers. … LB Azeez Al-Shaair had seven tackles and the fifth forced fumble of his career last week. … CB Derek Stingley had five tackles last week. He had 13 passes defended in nine home games last season, including the playoffs. Since 2023, he is tied for the NFL lead with 31 passes defended. … CB Kamari Lassiter had a career-high nine tackles last week to lead the team. … S C.J. Gardner-Johnson has had an interception in three of his past four games against Tampa Bay including the playoffs.

Fantasy tip

The Texans are looking to get Collins going this week after the star receiver had just three receptions for 25 yards in Week 1. Collins, who has had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, has been great at home in his career and 13 of his 15 touchdowns in the past two seasons have come in Houston.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The Associated Press