Keagan Smith takes you through his preview, prediction, and pick for NFL Week 2’s Houston Texans vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers matchup on Monday Night Football.

NFL fans are in for a real treat as Week 2 of the season concludes with not one, but two games on Monday Night Football. The first of the pair sees the Houston Texans (0-1) welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) to NRG Stadium for a matchup between a couple of playoff-caliber rosters. With star quarterbacks, talented wideouts and one of the league’s best defenses on display, there’s something for everyone in this contest.

Prepare your betting card with this Texans vs. Buccaneers prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Monday Night Football in Week 2.

Texans vs. Buccaneers prediction, preview

Houston Texans

The Texans are favorites to win the AFC South for the third consecutive year, but if Week 1 was any indication, the path to doing so may not be as simple as in years past. Here’s the deal — Houston boasts a franchise quarterback in C.J. Stroud, an elite top wideout in Nico Collins, and a top-three defense in the NFL anchored by EDGE Will Anderson Jr. and All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. However, the franchise is working to integrate new offensive coordinator Nick Caley’s scheme. Plus, numerous injuries play a role as a mysterious foot injury landed halfback Joe Mixon on the NFI list and he’ll miss at least another three games, wideout Christian Kirk is out with a hamstring issue, and the biggest problem of all is that the offensive line once again looks like one of the NFL’s worst.

Those factors were on display during the Texans’ first game, a 14-9 loss to the Rams in Los Angeles that saw the visitors fail to score a touchdown on the day. While Stroud only threw for 188 yards with an interception, he really tossed a solid game in light of the pressure he dealt with in the pocket all day. He was sacked three times but faced pressure on 41.2% of dropbacks courtesy of a talented Rams pass rush. The Buccaneers’ defense will certainly bother Stroud, so he must get the ball out quickly to remain upright. Thankfully, even if the offense doesn’t click from the jump, the defense can still bail the team out as we saw so many times last season. The Texans can somewhat coast on the backs of that unit until they’re healthy again, but Tampa Bay’s offense does look quite formidable and will put up a fight.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

There are a couple of parallels between teams since across the field, the Buccaneers come to Houston with hopes of winning their own division once again in a weak NFC South while also replacing former offensive coordinator Liam Coen (who departed to take the head coach job in Jacksonville) with Josh Grizzard. Their offensive scheme hasn’t seen all that much of a shakeup, but the team also isn’t at full strength while All-Pro offensive lineman Tristan Wirfs and wideouts Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan all miss time due to injuries. However, the Bucs experienced some much better luck after starting strong and winning a 23-20 nail-biter against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1.

Tampa Bay was outgained 260 to 358 in that contest and averaged just 4.6 yards per play while losing the time-of-possession battle 24:48 to 35:12. In the end, those factors didn’t matter, nor did an inefficient day from quarterback Baker Mayfield as he still tossed three touchdowns with just 167 passing yards. The star of the day was rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka, a first-round pick who hauled in four passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns — including the score which ended up winning the game for the Bucs. Halfback Bucky Irving managed just 37 yards on 14 carries, and while it would be nice to project a better day from him in Week 2, that may be tough against this Houston front seven. The Buccaneers did bottle up the run, but they were quite susceptible to the pass, which Stroud could take advantage of here.

Texans vs. Buccaneers pick, best bet

On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Texans enter as 2.5-point favorites at home with -135 odds to win on the Moneyline. The Buccaneers are listed as +114 underdogs to win outright with the game total set at 42.5 combined points.

This does feel like a difficult matchup to pick due to the variance in how Houston’s offense might perform. When Stroud catches fire, the connection between he and Collins feels virtually unstoppable no matter what coverages a defense sends. After all, he graded out in the 93rd percentile against man coverage and the 81st percentile against zone last season, per Reception Perception’s charting. Collins should post a much better line against this secondary than the abnormal three catches for 25 yards he logged last week, and he’ll remain the focal point of the Texans’ attack. If the Buccaneers’ defense truly is vulnerable, Houston should rebound nicely and get the wheels turning in this matchup.

On the flip side, Mike Evans and Egbuka will draw frequent coverage from Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter, perhaps one of the best cornerback duos in the NFL. That’s tough competition for a passing game that wasn’t always on the same page last week, though that also may have come as a result of players needing to knock the offseason rust off. Again, Irving may have trouble on the ground as well, and the Texans’ deep pass rush should have their way, especially with Wirfs out. The odds indicate a close game, which makes sense, but the home team can absolutely win this game assuming they can start building a rhythm. I trust Houston’s offense to show signs of life while the defense limits the Bucs, ultimately resulting in the Texans covering.

Best bet: HOU Texans -2.5 (-108)