Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. 
Houston Texans: Odds, Picks, and Predictions for Week 2
The Tampa Buccaneers travel to Houston to take on the Texans in an inter-conference matchup on Monday Night Football. The Bucs are coming off a tough divisional road win against the Falcons, while the Texans had a tough road loss to the Rams.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Houston Texans Betting Odds
Bucs +2.5 (FanDuel -105) / Texans -2.5 (DraftKings -108)
Bucs ML (FanDuel +128) / Texans ML (DraftKings -135)
Total OVER 42.5 (FanDuel -110) / UNDER 42.5 (DraftKings -110)
First-half spread: Bucs +0.5 (BetMGM -110), Texans -0.5 (BetMGM -110)
First-half money line: Bucs (Bet365 +125), Texans (BetMGM -135)
Bucs total points: Over 20.5 (DraftKings +102) / Under 20.5 (FanDuel -120)
Texans total points: Over 21.5 (BetRivers -115) /Under 21.5 (BetRivers -115)
The Texans opened as 1.5 point home favorites, and it moved to -2.0 on 9/2, -2.5 on 9/5, and peaked at -3.0 on 9/9 before moving back down to -2.5. So clearly most of the money has been coming in on the Texans, but books want to be careful of having a middle with Texans -1.5 and -3.0 or the same thing on the Bucs.
The total opened 46.5 and took a dip to 45.5 on 9/7, 43.5 on 9/8, and bottomed out at 42.0 on 9/9. The total is now sitting at 42.5 and the Bucs injuries, Texans offensive line woes, and the Texans strong defense have all contributed to this total moving down considerably.
The majority of the bets (55%) have come in on the Texans, and the handle (55%) is on the Bucs which reflects there is split action and the sharps are on Tampa.
The total sees money on the Under at 94% of total bets, and 91% of the handle which makes this an extreme public play. The moneyline shows who has taken a position on the game, and the Texans have received 63% of the bets and the Bucs have 56% of the handle.
Key Injuries
Bucs - OL Tristan Wirfs (O), WR Chris Godwin (O), WR Jalen McMillan (O), OL Luke Goedeke (Q)
Texans - RB Joe Mixon, S Jimmie Ward, C Jake Andrews, WR Christian Kirk, WR Tank Dell
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Bucs vs. Texans Betting Picks
Betting NFL is all about numbers, and if you want the Texans tonight, you have to lay -2.5 and grab it before it potentially goes to -3.0, which will make it a non-play for me.
If you think both teams will struggle on offense, then the 1H total is a strong look. Teams will make adjustments at halftime, so there could be more offense in the 2H. Key numbers like 20 and 23 make the 1H total a great play just based on where it is landing (21.5). The common score would be 13-10, which would mean 3 field goals and 2 touchdowns in the first half. However, I do not see how either team will be able to move the ball to get into those scenarios. It also assumes that all of the field goals are made with no misses.
Bucs vs. Texans Best Bet: Texans -2.5 (DraftKings -108)
Secondary Bet: UNDER 21.0 1st Half (Caesars -105)
Bucs vs. Texans Prediction
The total going UNDER is about as public of a play that you will see, but it is very hard to think that this game will get to the mid 40s. Between the Bucs' offensive injuries and this Houston defense, unless we see a D/ST touchdown, it should be a slugfest.
Texans 19, Bucs 16
