Where to watch Buccaneers vs. Texans: Prediction, pick, odds, TV, live streaming for 'Monday Night Football'

In the first of two Week 2 "Monday Night Football" matchups, the Houston Texans play host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,

The Texans are coming off a dispiriting loss to the Los Angeles Rams and looking to even their record at 1-1 while keeping pace with the surprising unbeaten Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South. The Bucs captured a rollicking, come-from-behind win over the division rival Falcons in their opener and are looking to improve to 2-0 and remain atop the NFC South.

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We're getting a matchup of former top-two draft picks under center for this one. It's not quite the No. 1 pick vs. No. 1 pick battles we saw on Sunday, but Baker Mayfield did go No. 1 overall while C.J. Stroud went No. 2. Both of their teams are looking to head back to the playoffs for the third consecutive season, and the winner of this game will be in much better position to do just that.

Which of these teams will come away with the victory? We'll find out soon enough. Before we break down the matchup, here's a look at how you can watch the game.

Where to watch Texans vs. Buccaneers live

Date: Monday, Sept. 15 | Time: 7 p.m. ET

Location: NRG Stadium (Houston)

TV: ABC/ESPN | Stream: Fubo (Try for free)

Follow: CBS Sports App

Odds: Texans -2.5; O/U 42.5 (via DraftKings Sportsbook)

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When the Buccaneers have the ball

Tampa came away with a come-from-behind victory last week against the Falcons, but did not move the ball with the kind of efficiency that it did in last year's spectacular offensive season. The Bucs averaged just 4.6 yards per offensive play in a game, a mark that would have ranked dead last in the NFL last season. The pass offense, in particular, was inefficient with Baker Mayfield going just 17 of 32 for 167 yards. Of course, Mayfield made up for the inefficiency with three touchdown passes, including the game-winner. And you'll take that just about every week.

But this is one of those weeks that isn't every week. The Texans have arguably the best defense in football, with their bookend edge rushers putting a preposterous amount of pressure on opposing quarterbacks and their shutdown secondary plastering receivers all over the field. If the Bucs are going to move the ball on Houston, they're going to have to perform at a much higher level than they did a week ago against a much weaker defense.

Making matters more complicated for the Bucs are their offensive absences. They're still without star left tackle Tristan Wirfs and slot receiver Chris Godwin, while right tackle Luke Goedeke is questionable after getting in only one limited practice session this past week. If they have to play without both of their tackles, Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter are going to be set up to have an absolutely dominant performance. Even if Goedeke is healthy, those guys are liable to take over the game anyway.

They'll also likely have to deal with Derek Stingley Jr. shadowing Mike Evans wherever he goes on the field. Stingley is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, and he's one of the rare players with the size and physicality to deal with the Evans matchup. That could lead to a tough night for Mayfield's leading receiver if he can't shake free from one of the best in the game. Mayfield would have to turn more to rookie Emeka Egbuka, who will likely see a lot of Kamari Lassiter, who is no slouch. Egbuka went off for two touchdowns last week against the Falcons, but again, this is a much different caliber of challenge.

Tampa didn't run the ball effectively against the Falcons, either. Bucky Irving carried 14 times for just 37 yards, and Rachaad White added 14 yards with his two totes. And that was against a suspect Falcons run defense. The Texans' run defense unit is very much not suspect, and Tampa will need to get considerably more push this week in order to turn things around -- and do so with a depleted (and potentially very depleted) offensive line.

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When the Texans have the ball

Houston's offense similarly did not have much success last week, albeit against a much more stringent opponent. The Texans were without Christian Kirk and Joe Mixon (both of whom are out again this week) in their loss to the Rams, during which they also averaged 4.6 yards per play and, unlike the Bucs, totaled just nine points. They went only 2 of 9 on third downs and didn't score a touchdown on their only trip to the red zone.

The Texans did get the ground game going a bit with Nick Chubb (13 carries for 60 yards), but weren't able to do much through the air, as C.J. Stroud was limited to 188 yards on 19 of 27 passing, and he was also intercepted. He was under pressure from the Rams' defensive line throughout the game and took three sacks for a loss of 33 yards. He also failed to establish a connection with No. 1 wideout Nico Collins, who had just 3 catches for 25 yards.

The Bucs don't have the same caliber of pass rush as do the Rams, and so Stroud could conceivably have more time to throw -- if the offensive line in front of him can actually hold up. And that's no guarantee considering the level of talent on said line. Haason Reddick and Yaya Diaby are capable pass rushers. They're just not, ya know, Jared Verse-quality. And Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey can get after it from the inside as well. Tampa could definitely still cause some issues here if the line isn't operating at a higher level than it was last week.

On the perimeter, we saw the Falcons pepper Drake London with an incredible amount of targets working against this Tampa secondary last week, and the Texans should similarly try to funnel things to Collins working against Jamel Dean and Zyon McCollum. The other receivers will be in a heavy rotation, and aren't much to speak of unless the rookies take a step forward on the depth chart from where they were in Week 1. Dalton Schultz looks like the only man left in the tight end room in the wake of injuries to both Brevin Jordan and Cade Stover, but he's mostly a check-down-over-the-middle guy when Stroud gets under pressure.

It's probably expecting too much to expect Houston to run the ball with much success again, given the state of the offensive line and what Chubb has looked like since returning from his devastating injury. He ran hard last week but still didn't look like he had regained the explosiveness that made him one of the best pure runners in the NFL for several seasons.

Prediction

Tampa comes into this game banged up, with Tristan Wirfs and Chris Godwin both still absent. The offense didn't look like it was at full strength last week, and when going up against a defense as good as Houston's, that's not ideal. We have to roll with the Texans at home.

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