The Houston Texans wide receiver depth has thinned considerably heading into their Monday Night Football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as Christian Kirk and Braxton Berrios have both been ruled out. Both are sidelined with hamstring injuries.
Neither receiver suited up for the Texans week one loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Kirk, who was projected to be WR2 for the Texans this season, was clearly missed last week as the Houston offense had all kinds of trouble gaining any kind of momentum. No receiver had more than 32 yards in the air, and the team leader in receptions was tight end Cade Stover who had just four grabs.
Berrios is a kickoff return specialist, who will probably play very few offensive snaps even when he is healthy. With the new kickoff rules however, his insertion into the lineup when he becomes healthy could do wonders for the Texans special teams unit.
With both Kirk and Berrios out, Nico Collins and Jayden Higgins will be the clear cut best targets for quarterback C.J. Stroud to look to.
Texans Need More From Stroud-Collins Connection
Nico Collins was stymied by the Rams defense in week one, only catching three passes for 25 yards. Earlier in the offseason, Collins claimed he and Stroud’s connection was like “taking candy from a baby.”
Last week, it looked more like he was trying to take candy from an MMA fighter as he was effectively locked up all game.
The Stroud-Collins connection is really the key to unlocking the Texans offense in all aspects. Collins has enough talent to beat good coverage even in double teams and make key plays, which will in turn allow Higgins and tight end Dalton Schultz to enjoy a little bit more breathing room downfield.
The Texans run game was also uncharacteristically inefficient last week, with Nick Chubb limited to 60 yards on the ground while Stroud had 32 escaping the pocket. Chubb has had a successful career that has been thwarted by injuries in recent years, and was supposed to be a 1A to Joe Mixon this season before Mixon found himself on the IR for the first four weeks.
Now, the Texans need vintage Chubb to emerge this week against the Bucs for the offense to regain some of it’s dynamic potential.
Houston Favored By 2.5 Monday Night
It is commonly known that being the home team earns you three points on the spread in the NFL, meaning this Houston-Tampa Bay game is effectively a pick ’em, with the Texans earning an edge simply by playing at home.
It’s a battle of fringe playoff teams with quarterbacks both looking for bounce-back performances after they were underwhelming in week one.
The Bucs escaped the jaws of defeat on the road in week one against the Falcons, winning 23-20, while Baker Mayfield completed just over half of his pass attempts for 167 yards, though he did have three touchdown passes. Stroud conversely completed roughly 70 percent of his passes, but didn’t throw any for a touchdown while conceding an interception.
Texans Get Bad News on 2 Wide Receivers Before Buccaneers Game