Monday night’s non-overlapping doubleheader delivered.
Via Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, the Buccaneers-Texans and Chargers-Raiders games averaged 13.5 million viewers. That’s the best overall performance of a Monday night doubleheader, regardless of format, since 2015.
The early game from Houston, which was televised by ESPN and ABC, averaged 17.4 million. It’s the highest number for a Week 2 Monday night game since 2008 (Eagles-Cowboys).
The late game, shown only on ESPN, averaged 9.7 million.
Week 4 ends with a simultaneous doubleheader, with Jets-Dolphins kicking off at 7:15 p.m. ET, and Bengals-Broncos starting one hour later. Another overlapping doubleheader happens two weeks later, with Bills-Falcons and Bears-Commanders.
Week 7 ends with another 7:00 p.m. ET/10:00 p.m. ET true doubleheader; the Buccaneers and Lions play in the early window and Texans-Seahawks follows.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield gave the team a scare at the end of a run on Monday night when he grabbed at his left leg, but those fears subsided when he hopped up to exchange words with Texans safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Gardner-Johnson was standing over Mayfield after he went down on a tackle by edge rusher Will Anderson and the two players were quickly separated by others before play resumed. Mayfield posted a picture of the exchange to his Instagram account on Tuesday and Gardner-Johnson replied by writing “boy this cute but still ringless.”
On Wednesday, Mayfield was asked at a press conference what led to his on-field response.
“We don’t take any s—t. That’s about it,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield has never shied away from scraps over the course of his career and his aggressive approach has helped the Buccaneers pull out back-to-back late wins to kick off the season. The quarterback won’t have a chance to renew acquaintances with Gardner-Johnson in the regular season, but there’s a good chance he’ll find another sparring partner or two before the year is out.
The Texans placed wide receiver Justin Watson on injured reserve, the team announced Wednesday.
Watson has a calf muscle/Achilles injury, Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports, but Watson does not have a tear and could return this season. He will have to miss a minimum of four games.
Watson, a former fifth-round pick of the Bucs, has three catches for 30 yards on four targets in two games.
In a corresponding move, the Texans signed tight end Brenden Bates off the Browns’ practice squad. He has played seven career games with one target.
The Texans also announced they signed cornerback Ajani Carter and safety Jalen Mills to the practice squad.
In the fourth quarter of Monday night’s matchup between the Texans and Buccaneers, Houston running back Nick Chubb scored a 25-yard touchdown with 2:10 left in the contest.
Chubb burst through a lane and went untouched into the end zone for the score.
The Texans were already in field goal range after a 53-yard punt return down to the 26-yard line. After Chubb was stuffed for a 1-yard run on first down, he went the rest of the way on second down.
The quick touchdown ended up working in Tampa Bay’s favor, as it left plenty of time for the Bucs to go down the field and eventually score a go-ahead touchdown with just six seconds on the clock. Rachaad White’s 2-yard touchdown run made Tampa Bay 2-0.
Upon further review, Chubb’s touchdown was so convenient that it almost might have been too convenient. So, a reporter at Todd Bowles’ Wednesday press conference asked the question — did the Bucs intentionally let Chubb score?
“I don’t think it matters. We won the game, so we’ll go from there,” Bowles said.
So Bowles won’t say?
“At all.”
So, the world may never know. But as Bowles said, the Bucs won the game, so does it really matter?
The 0-2 Texans are set to get some help at the wide receiver spot.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans said at a Monday press conference that the team expects to have Christian Kirk and Braxton Berrios back for their Week 3 game against the Jaguars. Both players missed the first two games of the season with hamstring injuries.
The Texans have scored the fewest points in the league through the first two weeks of the season, so anything that has the potential to change that will be a welcome addition to the offense.
Kirk could be of particular help on third downs. The Texans have converted four of their 18 chances so far this season and that will have to improve for the team to start posting wins.
