The first game of the Week 2 Monday Night Football doubleheader pits the 1-0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the 0-1 Houston Texans. The Buccaneers snuck away with a win against Atlanta last week and looks to carry that over in their second road game in as many weeks to open the season. Houston had a letdown last Week in Los Angeles against the Rams, where it scored just nine points in a game that was well within reach.
The Buccaneers may have been one of the luckiest teams of Week 1 to come away with a victory. Baker Mayfield had a pretty good game with three touchdown passes and no interceptions, yet the Falcons still had multiple opportunities to win the game late. It came down to a field goal attempt by Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo, but his 44-yard attempt to send the game into overtime was off the mark.
Advertisement
Despite rushing for 101 yards in the Bucs’ season opener, Tampa’s starting running back Bucky Irving managed just 37 yards on 14 carries; Mayfield ran it five times for 39 yards. The Bucs may run into trouble establishing a running game against a stingy Texans front seven that gave up just 72 rushing yards to the Rams in Week 1.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
New Texans offensive coordinator Nick Caley already had the weight of the entire city of Houston on his shoulders entering the 2025 season, and that load just multiplied after his offense failed to reach the end zone in Week 1. Heading into Week 2, there are still more questions than answers about this Texans offense, and especially the offensive line. C.J. Stroud completed 19 of 27 passes for 188 yards and an interception in the loss. Having a Week 2 home opener in primetime won’t make Caley or Stroud’s job any easier.
Buccaneers-Texans inactives Week 2
Buccaneers inactives: TE Devin Culp, WR Chris Godwin, WR Tez Johnson, RB Josh Williams, OT Tristan Wirfs, S Rashad Wisdom
Advertisement
Texans inactives: WR Christian Kirk, WR Braxton Berrios, QB Graham Mertz, RB Dameon Pierce, C Jake Andrews, DT Tommy Togiai
Date: Monday, September 15
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: NRG Stadium | Houston, Texas
TV channel: ABC, ESPN
Reminder: You can stream every local and prime time game on NFL+.
Buccaneers vs. Texans live blog
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more from Buccaneers-Texans on Monday Night Football: