Tampa Bay @ Houston preview
NRG Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 28, 2021 ) Tampa Bay 23, Houston 16
Sunday's matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and host Houston Texans is a tale of two teams with the same 3-4 record but vastly different postseason prospects.
Despite losing three in a row, Tampa Bay resides in the NFC South, where front-running Atlanta is only a half-game ahead at 4-4 and has made a quarterback change. The Texans are 2 1/2 games behind streaking Jacksonville in the AFC South.
The Buccaneers' position might have influenced their thinking when New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas came calling with a trade proposal involving their top wide receiver, Mike Evans. Playing his 10th season, Evans is on his way to his 10th 1,000-yard season with 507 yards on 33 receptions.
Evans is in the final year of his contract and could test free agency for the first time but has made it clear he'd like to stay with the only organization he's known.
"It's no secret that I want to be a Buc for life," he said. "It's rare for players to stay, especially in this day and age, to stay on a team for as long as I have. I want to just finish here."
Tampa Bay's decision not to trade means quarterback Baker Mayfield retains his most reliable target. Mayfield is enjoying the most accurate season of his career at 64.2 percent with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. He intends to make the start Sunday despite a knee contusion.
Mayfield and the Bucs are looking to revive an offense that has struggled during their recent slide. They've managed just 37 points during the losing streak and rank 27th in the NFL at only 17.3 ppg.
"We just have to put it all together," Mayfield said. "We have the fight, we have the preparation. We just have to execute."
The same could be said for Houston, which missed a chance to get over the .500 mark last week with a 15-13 loss at previously winless Carolina. The Texans managed only 229 total yards against a team ranked 30th in the NFL in scoring defense at more than 28 ppg.
That's part of a recent trend for Houston, which after averaging 24 points and 368.5 yards per game in the first four games has regressed to 17.3 ppg and 279.7 yards per game in the past three games.
"You can point the finger everywhere but me, personally, I point the thumb at myself," rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud said. "I'm not saying that I'm playing terrible but I'm not making the plays I want to make. Sometimes, I have to take what's there."
Stroud has definitely shown why the Texans took him No. 2 overall, throwing for 1,800 yards and a 60.3 percent completion rate with only one interception in 237 throws. He could use more help from a running game that's only 23rd in the league at just under 92 yards per game.
Houston owns a 4-1 lead in the all-time series with Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers have never won in Houston.
--Field Level Media