Buccaneers @ Texans · Week 5

WEEK 5 · FINAL

THE READ

Buccaneers beat Texans, 27-21

Buccaneers did what they needed to, 27-21. Baker Mayfield was steady for Buccaneers — 20/31, 227 yards, 1 TD. Bucky Irving did the work on the ground for Buccaneers — 15 carries, 103 yards, 1 TD. Jayden Higgins has not had a better afternoon this season. Total yards: Buccaneers 353, Texans 187.

The Wire · league beat

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Buccaneers	+2.5	-2.0	+4.6	+9
Texans	-2.5	-0.9	-1.6	-9

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Texans — in the hunt · 4-6 Buccaneers — NFC #7 · 6-3 Playoff picture →

IN THE BOOTH

Sephen A. Smith The showman

Tampa Bay's receiving corps—Higgins, Irving, and Otton all playing their best ball of the season in the same afternoon—made Houston's secondary look like it was playing three different coverages, and that kind of synchronicity on one side of the ball is what separates 4-1 from 2-3.

Devon Walker Beat reporter · replying

Tampa Bay won 27-21 on the back of a 166-yard advantage in total offense, but Houston's defense made them work for it—2 sacks matched the Bucs' pressure, and neither team turned the ball over. The gap was wider than the score.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

Baker Mayfield

Buccaneers

20/31, 227 yards, 1 TD

Bucky Irving

Buccaneers

15 carries, 103 yards, 1 TD

Antonio Gibson

Texans

7 carries, 64 yards, 1 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

⭐ Jayden Higgins has not had a better afternoon this season.

⭐ Bucky Irving has not had a better afternoon this season.

⭐ Cade Otton has not had a better afternoon this season.

📈 Antonio Gibson is in form: 63 rushing yards a game over his last three, against a season average of 46.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Total yards Buccaneers 353, Texans 187 Buccaneers

Through the air Buccaneers 227, Texans 86 Buccaneers

On the ground Buccaneers 126, Texans 101 Buccaneers

Giveaways Texans 1, Buccaneers 1 Buccaneers

⚔️ WAGER WAR

$23,587,352 in the pot · $8,793,176 each · settled

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 5 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Balanced Pass 57% · Rush 43% · 28.6 scored, 24.0 allowed

9.4 yds/att 57.4% completions 5.1 yds/carry 359.6 yds/game 1.1 giveaways/game 6.9% sack rate last 5: 3-2

Primary weapon: Cade Otton TE — 26% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY MODERATE

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 64 · Aggressive Balance 93 Ball security 69 Back usage 36% QB runs 3.1/game

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 84 WR 85 TE 77 RB 80 OL 85 DL 85 LB 77 DB 85

Best: Tristan Wirfs LT 95 Fastest: Terry McLaurin WR 95 SPD 7 at star dev or better

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

SAPPHIRESPORTZ.GG

Texans · his last 8 games

Balanced

Pass / run58% / 42% Points for / against27.4 — 29.1 Margin-1.8 Giveaways a game1.6 Sacks taken5.8% of dropbacks Lead backAntonio Gibson · 8.9/g Top targetNico Collins · 31% QB carries2.4 a game

Kitolito101

Buccaneers · his last 8 games

Balanced

Pass / run58% / 42% Points for / against31.0 — 24.0 Margin+7.0 Giveaways a game1.0 Sacks taken6.1% of dropbacks Lead backBucky Irving · 13.4/g Top targetCade Otton · 26% QB carries2.5 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES Kitolito101 against SAPPHIRESPORTZ.GG — the men, not the teams

Kitolito101 leads it 1-0. Kitolito101 won the last one.

1 meeting avg 27.0 — 21.0 biggest: 6 pts to Kitolito101

S2 · week 5 Kitolito101 27 — 21 SAPPHIRESPORTZ.GG KITOLITO101

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Buccaneers receivers vs Texans secondary 85 v 87 EVEN

Texans receivers vs Buccaneers secondary 82 v 85 BUCCANEERS

Buccaneers line vs Texans front 85 v 83 EVEN

Texans line vs Buccaneers front 83 v 85 EVEN

Buccaneers backs vs Texans run defence 80 v 82 EVEN

Texans backs vs Buccaneers run defence 80 v 83 BUCCANEERS

Buccaneers passer vs Texans secondary 84 v 87 TEXANS

Texans passer vs Buccaneers secondary 81 v 85 BUCCANEERS

TOP PERFORMERS

Baker Mayfield QB Buccaneers 227 pass yds

Bucky Irving HB Buccaneers 103 rush yds

Cade Otton TE Buccaneers 103 rec yds

Antonio Gibson HB Texans 64 rush yds

Rueben Bain Jr. LEDG Buccaneers 1.5 sacks

Antoine Winfield Jr FS Buccaneers 1 INTs

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

BUCCANEERS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Baker Mayfield QB	20/31	227	1	0	2	27	97.1

TEXANS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
C.J. Stroud QB	7/17	86	1	1	2	25	52.5

BUCCANEERS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Bucky Irving HB	15	103	6.9	1	5	52	36	0
Baker Mayfield QB	3	17	5.7	0	0	2	18	1
Josh Williams HB	1	5	5	0	0	2	5	0
Devin Culp TE	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	0
Chris Godwin Jr WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Cade Otton TE	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

TEXANS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Antonio Gibson HB	7	64	9.1	1	56	52
C.J. Stroud QB	1	20	20	0	1	20
Jeremiah Cobb HB	5	17	3.4	1	3	7

BUCCANEERS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Cade Otton TE	7	103	14.7	0	24	27
Jerry Jeudy WR	4	45	11.2	1	12	19
Chris Godwin Jr WR	3	38	12.7	0	9	20
Bucky Irving HB	4	33	8.2	0	41	12
Terry McLaurin WR	2	8	4	0	2	8

TEXANS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
Jayden Higgins WR	2	32	16	0	12	0	25
Dalton Schultz TE	1	15	15	0	0	0	15
Nico Collins WR	1	15	15	0	15	0	15
Jonnu Smith TE	2	14	7	0	10	0	9
Cade Stover TE	1	10	10	1	7	0	10
Jaylin Noel WR	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

BUCCANEERS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD
Antoine Winfield Jr FS	4	0	1	0
Jacob Parrish CB	2	0	0	0
Cobie Durant CB	1	0	0	0
Alex Anzalone WILL	1	0	0	1
Zyon McCollum CB	1	0	0	2
Tykee Smith SS	1	0	0	1
Austin Romaine WILL	1	0	0	0
Yaya Diaby REDG	1	0	0	0
Rueben Bain Jr. LEDG	1	1.5	0	0
Vita Vea DT	0	0.5	0	0

TEXANS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD	FF	CMP ALW
Calen Bullock FS	6	0	2	0	0
Jalen Pitre CB	4	0	3	0	0
Dalton Brooks SS	3	0	0	0	0
Quentin Lake SS	3	0	0	0	2
Henry To'oTo'o WILL	2	0	0	1	0
Reed Blankenship SS	2	0	0	0	0
Azeez Al-Shaair MIKE	2	0	0	0	0
Will Anderson Jr LEDG	2	1	0	0	0
Dylan Stewart REDG	2	1	0	0	0
Derek Stingley Jr CB	1	0	0	0	0
Kayden McDonald DT	1	0	0	0	0
Kamari Ramsey FS	1	0	1	0	0

BUCCANEERS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Chase McLaughlin K	2/2	1/1	61

TEXANS

nothing recorded

RECENT FORM

Buccaneers

W 44–28 vs Giants WK 4

W 25–7 vs Titans WK 3

W 21–7 vs Saints WK 2

Texans

W 38–20 vs Dolphins WK 4

L 14–38 vs Broncos WK 3

W 24–17 vs Titans WK 2

TEAM STATS

Buccaneers		Texans
353	TOTAL YARDS	187
227	PASSING YARDS	86
126	RUSHING YARDS	101
2	SACKS ALLOWED	2
2	SACKS MADE	2
1	GIVEAWAYS	1
1	TAKEAWAYS	1

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

1 BUCCANEERS — 0 TEXANS

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