Baker Mayfield grabbed at his left leg after a sack by Danielle Hunter with 3:26 remaining in the first half. He stayed in for the third-down play and came back in to run the two-minute offense on the next series, so it appears he’s OK.
Mayfield, who surpassed 25,000 career passing yards, threw two touchdowns in the first half to give the Bucs a 14-10 halftime lead.
Mayfield is 13-of-18 for 109 yards, throwing a 20-yard touchdown to Ryan Miller and a 15-yarder to Emeka Egubka. Bucky Irving has run for 41 yards on seven carries.
The Bucs gained 169 yards in the first half and went 4-for-6 on third down.
The Texans scored their first touchdown of the season on their first drive Monday night, with C.J. Stroud throwing a 29-yard score to Nico Collins. They settled for a red zone field goal on their second possession, with Ka’imi Fairbairn hitting a 35-yard field goal after the Texans reached the Tampa Bay 17.
Houston gained 159 yards in the first half, with Stroud going 8-of-13 for 131 yards. It was 1-for-4 on third down.
The Bucs lost starting right tackle Luke Goedeke on the first series when he aggravated his foot injury. They call defensive lineman Calijah Kancey questionable to return with a pectoral injury.
The Texans list safety Jalen Pitre as questionable with a rib injury.
Buccaneers right tackle Luke Goedeke started after being questionable to play in Monday Night Football. He didn’t last long.
Texans edge rusher Danielle Hunter gave Goedeke a spin move on the Bucs’ second drive, and Goedeke came up hobbling. He immediately left the field and has headed into the training room.
The Bucs have ruled him out for the rest of today, announcing Goedeke has aggravated his foot injury.
Charlie Heck replaced Goedeke at right tackle as he did in Week 1.
“Luke went down. Charlie has to come in and play ball,” coach Todd Bowles told ESPN in a sideline interview.
Heck tripped cornerback Kamari Lassiter on Emeka Egubka’s 15-yard catch-and-run touchdown on the drive Goedeke left. The penalty was not called, and Bucs lead 14-10.
Baker Mayfield is 10-of-13 for 94 yards and two touchdowns, with Egubka catching three for 22. Bucky Irving has 41 yards on seven rushes.
The Buccaneers went 65 yards in nine plays on their first drive of Monday Night Football.
Tampa Bay tied Houston 7-7 on Ryan Miller’s 20-yard touchdown reception.
Miller was Baker Mayfield’s third read on the play, and the receiver beat safety Calen Bullock in scoring his third career touchdown.
The Bucs overcame an offensive pass interference on Mike Evans, who pushed off Bullock for a 19-yard reception to the Houston 1.
Mayfield was 4-of-6 for 55 yards on the drive, with five different receivers catching passes.
Bucky Irving ran for 16 yards on two carries.
One of the NFL’s storylines for Week 2 was created by the league, given its position that for, all Sunday and Monday games, the home teams would decide whether to replicate the mandated Green Bay moment of silence acknowledging last week’s assassination of Charlie Kirk.
On Monday night, the Texans opted not to specifically mention Kirk, but to have a broader moment of silence within 30 minutes or so prior to the commencement of the Tampa Bay-Houston game.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the P.A. announcer said during a statement that was televised by the ESPN pregame show, “we are asking all fans to join us in a moment of silence to honor all victims of violence and natural disasters across the country. It is our hope that together we can end all forms of violence.”
Texas was the site of horrendous flash flooding in July 2025, which killed at least 125 people.
On Sunday, six of the 13 games included moments of silence mentioning Kirk. Seven did not. The Raiders host the Chargers later tonight to conclude Week 2.
The Texans had no touchdowns in a Week 1 loss to the Rams. They wasted no time in scoring a touchdown Monday night.
Nico Collins made a spectacular catch in the end zone, dragging both feet for a 29-yard touchdown only 3:07 into the game. The Texans lead 7-0.
C.J. Stroud looked off safety Antoine Winfield and then threw a perfect pass to Collins, who had only a step on Zyon McCollum.
Stroud went 3-of-4 for 65 yards.
Nick Chubb took a screen 25 yards, and he had a third down conversion with a 1-yard run on the third play.
The Texans had no plays of 25 yards or more last week. They made two in their first six plays Monday.
