For the second week in a row, the Texans will face one of the hottest teams in the NFL in its own building. This time, though, they’ll do it on a short week. Last week, the Texans headed into Nashville to face the Titans, winners of their previous four games and six of the previous seven, and left with a 24-21 win. So, this week the Texans fly to Tampa for a Saturday game against smoking-hot quarterback Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs have won four straight games, including two over AFC South foes, and five of their last six games overall.
Winston has been a major reason why. Over the past two weeks, Winston threw for 914 yards and eight touchdowns in wins over the Colts at home and on the road at Detroit. This season, he has thrown for 4,573 yards (first in the league) and 30 passing touchdowns (second in the league). He’s had the services of Pro Bowl receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans all season, but Evans was placed on injured reserve this week with a hamstring issue and Godwin left last week’s game against the Lions on a cart with a hamstring issue as well. Yet, even with those two out of the lineup, the Buccaneers offense with Winston at the helm is a scary, SCARY bunch.
Defensively, the Buccaneers are the epitome of a Dickens novel - the best of times, the worst of times. The front seven, led by interior stars Vita Vea and Ndamukong Suh and linebackers Lavonte David and rookie Devin White, is shutting down the run. The defense is first in the league against the run and with those four on the field, there’s no secret why. Edge rusher Shaq Barrett leads the league in sacks with 16.5, but the pass defense has been shredded. The group in the back features a handful of rookies and it’s been baptism by fire for that young, yet talented secondary throughout the season. The Bucs are second to last in the league in passing yards allowed but in the last few weeks, they’ve done a much better job holding teams in check. Since losing to the Saints five weeks ago, they’ve allowed just four passing touchdowns and picked off five passes. The flip side is that they beat a banged up Matt Ryan, Nick Foles/Gardner Minshew, Jacoby Brissett and David Blough, not a murderer’s row of quarterbacks. So, here comes two-time Pro Bowler Deshaun Watson and the biggest challenge for the Buccaneers defense since facing Drew Brees over a month ago.
