The Bucs are comin' to town for the first time since 2015. Since 2007, though, it's been a team that the Texans are glad to see on the schedule. Will Sunday be the same? Will the winning streak continue? Let's dive into the numbers for Sunday's matchup with Todd Bowles' Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
4 - The Texans have won four straight against the Buccaneers, dating back to 2007. The only loss to the Bucs came in the Texans' second season back in 2003. Since then, the Texans have taken care of business against Florida's second oldest franchise. In fact, the Buccaneers have never won in Houston in their franchise history, having lost all four in the Astrodome and both games in NRG Stadium.
2 - Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield has had plenty of success throughout his career, but NRG Stadium has not been great to him. He's played there twice - once as a member of the Oklahoma Sooners in 2016 and once with the Cleveland Browns in 2018. His teams lost both matchups.
17 - The last time that the Buccaneers came to Houston and NRG Stadium in 2015, Tampa's star receiver and Galveston's own Mike Evans was targeted 17 times!
507 - With 507 yards receiving through seven games, Evans is on track for another 1000 yard receiving season. That would make TEN in a row if Evans were to do that. Here's hoping that Evans leaves Houston well under 600.
41.6% - The Texans are 4th in the league in pressure rate according to Next Gen Stats.
29.0% - The Bucs are surprisingly 31st in the league in pressure rate according to Next Gen Stats.
6 - The Texans racked up six sacks last week against Carolina…and probably left two or three on the field as well. That was the most for the Texans in a single game since racking up six against the Tennessee Titans on MNF in 2018. The last time that the Texans had MORE than six was in the finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars…IN 2015!!
The Houston Texans held practice on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 in preparation for the Week 9 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
5 - If, IF health holds and Kyler Murray is indeed back for the Cardinals in a couple of weeks, the Texans will play FIVE straight #1 overall drafted QB - Bryce Young (2023), Baker Mayfield (2018), Joe Burrow (2020), Murray (2019) and Trevor Lawrence (2021). Throw in Travon Walker (2022) and Myles Garrett (2017) and the Texans will face every single #1 overall pick in 2023, dating back to Garrett's selection in 2017.
115.3 - Mayfield has the highest QB rating in the league (!!) on 3rd and 4th down
110.9 - Texans QB C.J. Stroud is just slightly behind Mayfield, 4th in the league, on 3rd and 4th down with a nearly 111 rating.
0.4 - C.J. has the lowest INT percentage by any rookie in NFL history with a minimum of 200 pass attempts. He has attempted 237 passes and had just one INT. The previous record was Dak Prescott's 0.9% (four INT on 459 attempts in 2016)
6th - As the social team graphic pointed out earlier this week, the Texans defense has allowed 18.3 points per game. That number puts them sixth in the league.
Alright, that's going to do it for this By The Numbers - Time to get back to .500 on Sunday. See ya then, everyone!