Will the Texans score their first touchdown?
“No touchdowns” was the verdict for the Houston Texans on the first matchday of the NFL season. They will naturally be aiming to improve on that in one of the two Monday Night Games and our Texans vs. Buccaneers tip – otherwise, it would be a perfect false start.
However, the omens are not particularly positive, as their best running back, Joe Mixon, is still out, and there is also a big question mark over number 2 wide receiver Christian Kirk. Without these two, they managed just three field goals and nine points last Sunday.
The Buccaneers didn’t score an excessive number of points in their 23-20 win in Atlanta, but at least they managed to secure an important away victory. The Bucs enjoy playing in foreign stadiums anyway, winning five of their last six away games.
So our prediction for Texans vs. Bucs is also a Tampa Bay victory, which could plunge the Texans into a minor crisis. Only Houston’s defense could possibly save them here, as it is one of the strongest in the NFL. That, in turn, is likely to lead to a low-scoring game, which also makes under points a good bet.
Kick-off for Monday Night Football is at 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday in Houston. The game can be watched live on the DAZN streaming service.
Houston Texans – Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head-to-head comparison / H2H record
The head-to-head comparison in this matchup favors the Texans. Houston has won all five of their meetings over the past 20 years. However, the two teams only play each other every four years on average. The last time they met, 76 points were scored – a figure that both teams are currently far from reaching.
We actually expect a low-scoring game, in which the 45-point mark should be difficult to reach. C.J. Stroud currently has too many problems for that – but the Texans still have such a good defense that they shouldn’t be overrun either.
This makes the odds for under 44.5 total points in Texans vs. Buccaneers another alternative to underdog bets on Tampa. We see them as slight favorites on Monday, as they can keep up defensively and are clearly in better form offensively.
Houston Texans – Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tip
The Texans only gained 265 yards last Sunday, and only 151 of those were through the air. That means they will have to rely on their running game against Tampa – and that was precisely the Bucs’ great strength against Atlanta. They only allowed 69 rushing yards. Not a particularly good matchup for the Texans, then, which is likely to be reflected in the result.
Therefore, our recommendation for Houston vs. Tampa is to bet on the Buccaneers. Since they are considered the underdogs, we can even get betting odds of up to 2.25 at Interwetten.
Of course, we also have an alternative player bet recommendation for this game. We see a touchdown by Mike Evans as a good betting option here. On Game Day 1, rookie Egbuka surprised everyone with two TD catches, which will bring future defenses onto the scene. That should create additional space for Evans.
