The 1-0 Bucs will be looking for their fourth consecutive 2-0 start under head coach Todd Bowles this Monday night when they head to Houston to take on the 0-1 Texans under the lights in primetime.
Given the absences of Tristan Wirfs, Chris Godwin Jr. and Jalen McMillan to start the season, the safe thought would’ve been that Tampa Bay needed to at least split its first two games — both on the road — before returning home to Raymond James Stadium for home games in Weeks 3 and 4. But after a 23-20 win in Atlanta to start off the season, Bowles and Co. can afford to get greedy and try to steal another road win in Houston before coming back to Tampa to host the New York Jets in Week 3.
The Bucs aren’t just looking for their fourth straight 2-0 start under Bowles — they’re also looking for a ninth consecutive win in Week 2. Tampa Bay hasn’t lost a Week 2 contest since a 40-7 defeat in Arizona back in 2016. At the same time, this is a team that is looking to reverse its fortunes in primetime after an 0-5 mark under the lights last year.
As usual, there are other storylines to follow in this Monday Night Football matchup, and that’s the reason we’re here right now. As we do every week here on PewterReport.com, it’s now time to take a look at what else is on the line during this week’s game. Of course, we’re talking about some of the records and milestones that some key Bucs are moving toward.
Last week, Mike Evans passed Pro Football Hall of Famer Art Monk (12,721) for the 23rd-most receiving yards in NFL history and Emeka Egbuka became the second player in Bucs history to record multiple receiving touchdowns in his NFL debut, joining tight end Alex Smith (2005).
Now, let’s see where things stand heading into Week 2.
Bucs Record Watch: Week 2 at Texans
Baker Mayfield
Mayfield needs just one passing yard to hit the 25,000-yard mark for his career.
With 271 passing yards, Mayfield will pass Steve DeBerg (9,522) for eighth-most in Bucs history.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today
With 300 passing yards, Mayfield would tie Doug Williams (10) for fourth-most 300-yard passing games in franchise history.
Mayfield needs two passing touchdowns to pass Josh Freeman (23) for the third-most multi-touchdown passing games in team history. Two passing scores would also move him ahead of Doug Williams (73) for fifth-most in franchise history.
Mayfield is five touchdown passes away from passing Vinny Testaverde (77) for fourth-most by in Bucs history.
Mike Evans
Evans is 52 receiving yards away from passing Irving Fryar (12,785) for 22nd-most in NFL history.
With nine more receptions, Evans will pass Rod Smith (849) for 34th-most in league history. He also needs 11 receptions to pass Irving Fryar (850) for 33rd-most.
Monday night will be Evans’ 170th game as a Buc, leaving him 14 away from passing Paul Gruber (183) for sixth-most in team history. It’ll be his 169th start, which means he’s 15 away from passing Gruber (183) for fourth-most games started in franchise history.
It’s also worth noting that Evans finished last week’s win over the Falcons with 51 yards, meaning he needs 949 more to own sole possession of the NFL record for most consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He needs to average 59.3 yards per game over the remaining 16 games to record a 12th straight 1,000-yard season.
Rachaad White
White needs one touchdown to tie Leonard Fournette and Reggie Cobb (22) for seventh-most touchdowns from scrimmage by a running back in team history.
With two receiving touchdowns, White will tie Mike Alstott (13) for the most by a running back/fullback in Bucs history.
Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today
White needs 77 more rushing yards to pass Ronald Jones II (2,174) for 10th-most by a Bucs running back.
Emeka Egbuka
Egbuka has a chance to make some more history Monday night against the Texans. If he brings in another receiving touchdown, he would set a new franchise record for the most through two career games. With two receiving touchdowns, he’d become the first player in NFL history with multiple in each of his first two career games.
Along those same lines, two receiving touchdowns would make him the fifth player in Bucs history to post consecutive multi-receiving touchdown games, and he’d be the first since Rob Gronkowski did it in 2021.
With 51 receiving yards, Egbuka would set a new franchise record for the most through two career games, and 10 receptions would also be a new Bucs record for the most through two career games.
Kameron Johnson
If Johnson can break free for another punt return of 50+ yards against the Texans, he’d be the first NFL player with 50-yard returns in consecutive games since Gunner Olszewski did it in 2020.
Vita Vea
Vea needs three more sacks to pass Brad Culpepper and Jason Pierre-Paul (33.0) for ninth-most in team history.
Bucs NT Vita Vea – Photo by: USA Today
Monday will be Vea’s 97th game, tying him with Dave Ravis for the 50th-most in Bucs history.
Haason Reddick
Reddick had a great debut for the Bucs last week. With another five pressures against Houston, he would join Shaq Barrett (four times) and Jason Pierre-Paul (twice) as the only Bucs with 5+ in consecutive games since the stat began being tracked in 2016.
Lavonte David
Monday will be David’s 200th game as a Buc. He’ll become the third Buc to reach that mark, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers and Bucs Ring of Honor members Derrick Brooks (224) and Ronde Barber (241).
This will also be David’s 200th start, and he again joins Brooks (221) and Barber (232) as the only Tampa Bay players to hit that mark in their careers.
David needs a half-sack to pass David Logan (39.0) for sixth-most in franchise history, and with four more passes defensed, he’ll pass Carlton Davis III (73) for fourth-most.
Jamel Dean
Dean had three passes defensed in last week’s win over the Falcons, and if he can get another three against the Texans, he’ll be the first Bucs player to record 3+ in back-to-back games since he did it himself back in 2019.
Dean is also 10 passes defensed away from passing Donnie Abraham (64) for sixth-most in franchise history.
Zyon McCollum
McCollum is two passes defensed away from passing Tanard Jackson (27), E.J. Biggers (28) and Jordan Whitehead (28) for 15th-most in team history.
Antoine Winfield Jr.
Winfield needs four passes defensed to pass Dwight Smith (34) for 12th-most in team history.
He also needs only three forced fumbles to pass Hardy Nickerson (13) for seventh-most by a Buc, and two more fumble recoveries would move him ahead of Lee Roy Selmon (10) for fourth-most in franchise history. That would also tie him with John Cannon and Cecil Johnson (11) for third-most.
Bucs FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: USA Today
Winfield remains 11.5 sacks away from passing Ronde Barber (28.0) for the most by a defensive back in Bucs history.
Chase McLaughlin
McLaughlin will be looking to shake off a bad game in Atlanta this week in Houston, and he’ll be doing so as he’s just eight points away from passing James Wilder (276) for the ninth-most in team history.
McLaughlin also needs 25 more field goals to pass Ryan Succop (84) for sixth-most in franchise history.
Todd Bowles
Bowles is 8-3 in September as the Bucs’ head coach, and if he can get to 9-3 with a win over the Texans on Monday night, he’ll only be three away from passing Bruce Arians (31) for the fourth-most in franchise history.