Editor’s Note: This Matchup was written by John Daigle, with input from Evan Silva.
Monday Night Football
Tampa Bay @ Houston
Team Totals: Buccaneers 20, Texans 22.5
Even in moving C Graham Barton to left tackle in place of Tristan Wirfs (knee, out) and rounding out the left side of their O-line with G Michael Jordan and C Ben Bredeson, Baker Mayfield stepped on the gas as one of only five QBs to average 10 air yards per target. The living embodiment of the Jesse Pinkman meme around his QB4 finish, Baker can’t keep getting away with it: his 53.1% completion rate (29th) and 5.2 yards per attempt (25th) were only untraceable due to his 9.4% TD rate (fourth). … Wirfs’ absence adversely affected Tampa’s run game the most as Bucky Irving averaged half a yard before contact per rush and was stuffed for two yards or less on 85.7% of his carries. Unfortunately, Houston’s run D ranked sixth in EPA/carry last year and swarmed Kyren Williams for 3.6 yards per touch in Week 1. Any bull case for Irving hinges exclusively on volume, being trusted for 65.5%, 60%, 91.3%, and 81.8% of the team’s backfield touches over his last four starts. Rachaad White’s lopped route participation (21%) and touch share (13.6%) is the cherry on top.
We create the highest-quality NFL content
Our team includes renowned fantasy analysts Evan Silva and Adam Levitan, high-stakes professional DFS players, and specialists who cover niche areas that we believe are important to understand.
We don’t sell lineups or claim to have all of the answers. We do analyze what’s happening in a way that’s digestible and actionable, with a goal of preparing you to make the best decisions possible during the 2025 NFL season.
Read on to learn what’s inside our In-Season NFL subscription.
Full Details! » Already a subscriber? Log In
