The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Houston Texans will face off under the prime-time lights on Monday night at NRG Stadium; the two were paired up on the schedule as part of the "17th Game" formula as both won their respective divisions in 2024. In fact, the Buccaneers have won the NFC South four years in a row and the Texans have taken the AFC South crown two years running. The Buccaneers won their season opener in Atlanta, 23-20, with a late comeback while Houston took a Week One loss after a fumble ended their last chance at a comeback in a 14-9 decision against the Los Angeles Rams.
Tampa Bay's offense was more proficient than Houston's attack in 2024, finishing in the top five in a variety of categories, including yards per game, points per game, rushing yards and passing yards. However, it faces a stiff challenge in Week Two of the 2025 campaign against an aggressive Houston defense that was among the league's best in pressuring the quarterback and creating turnovers. One game in 2025 is a very small sample size for rankings, so we will be utilizing final 2024 numbers in this week's Tale of the Tape. Based on those numbers, here's how the Buccaneers and Texans stack up against each other for Monday night's nationally-televised showdown:
When Tampa Bay Has the Ball:
Buccaneers Offense Category Texans Defense
3rd (399.6) Net Yards Per Game 6th (315.0)
4th (6.21 Yards Per Play 4th (5.10)
4th (29.5) Points Per Game 14th (21.9)
4th (149.2) Rushing Yards Per Game 11th (114.0)
3rd (250.4) Passing Yards Per Game 6th (201.0)
1st (50.9%) Third Down Percentage 7th (35.9%)
17th (7.01%) Sacks Per Pass Play 4th (8.84%)
27th (2.80%) Interception Percentage 2nd (3.43%)
4th (66.7%) Red Zone Touchdown Pct. 27th (63.6%)
When Houston Has the Ball:
Texans Offense Category Buccaneers Defense
22nd (319.7). Net Yards Per Game 18th (341.8)
21st (5.14) Yards Per Play 18th (5.46)
19th (21.9) Points Per Game 16th (22.6)
15th (112.3) Rushing Yards Per Game 4th (97.8)
21st (207.4) Passing Yards Per Game 29th (243.9)
20th (37.7%) Third Down Percentage 14th (38.1%)
25th (9.47%) Sacks Per Pass Play 16th (7.30%)
t-15th (2.11%) Interception Percentage 29th (1.11%)
26th (49.1%) Red Zone Touchdown Pct. 14th (54.4%)
Advantage Buccaneers: Red Zone Offense
Tampa Bay's offense ranked in the top five in the NFL in many categories in 2024, and that included its touchdown percentage on drives that reached the opposing red zone. Once penetrating the opponent's 20-yard line, the Buccaneers finished the drive in the painted grass two-thirds of the time. That trend continued to start the 2025 season, albeit in limited fashion. The Buccaneers only got into Atlanta's red zone once in Week One – partially because Baker Mayfield skipped that part with two long touchdown passes to rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka – and they turned that into a touchdown. Houston's outstanding defense was also a top-five unit in many ways in 2024, but that did not include its red zone numbers. The Texans were surprisingly in the bottom six in that category, allowing touchdowns at a 63.6% clip. In their Week One loss to the Rams, the Texans faced three red zone incursions and allowed touchdowns on two of them.
Advantage Texans: Ball-Hawking Defense
Led by Pro Bowl cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and a pair of instant-impact rookies in cornerback Kamari Lassiter and safety Calen Bullock, the Texans racked up 19 interceptions on defense in 2024, second in the NFL only to the Vikings with 24. Stingley, Lassiter and Bullock combined for 13 of them. Houston didn't manage any picks off the Rams' Matthew Stafford last Sunday, but they clearly have a defense full of players with a nose for the football, plus a pass rush that can hurry quarterbacks into mistakes. The Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield went to the Pro Bowl in 2024 and had one of the best seasons by a quarterback in franchise history with 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns, but he also tied for the NFL lead with 16 interceptions. He got off to a good start in 2025, with three touchdown passes and no interceptions on the road against the Falcons.
X-Factor: Texans' Passing Attack
Houston did not have one of the NFL's most dynamic passing attacks in 2024, ranking 21st in the NFL with 207.4 yards per game and 24th with 6.19 yards per pass play. Then-second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud compiled an 87.0 passer rating to rank 23rd among qualifying players. However, Stroud was one of the NFL's most pleasant surprises as a rookie the year before, finishing top 10 in a variety of passing categories, including first in interception percentage, while throwing for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns. In Week Nine of that season, he led a comeback win over the Buccaneers by throwing for 470 yards and five touchdowns without an interception. The Texans have tried to put Stroud back into a position to duplicate his rookie success by reshaping their offensive line, adding several receivers to his arsenal and bringing in a new offensive coordinator. If all of that works, the Texans could go back to having one of the league's best passing attacks.
