It’s a testament to the talents of Mike Evans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen—and maybe also to the Week 18 apathy of the New Orleans Saints—that on a play whose target was obvious before the snap, the 11-year veteran receiver could still make the catch and rumble forward with ease. It’s also a testament to Evans’s talent that the Bucs home crowd went wild for a play that didn’t affect the game at all. They knew the completion’s sentimental and monetary value.
Evans's nine-yard catch, the final play of Sunday’s Saints-Bucs game, continued the WR's streak of 1,000-yard seasons in every year of his career, tying Jerry Rice's all-time record. It also earned him a $3 million contract bonus. His teammates on the field mobbed him, as did his teammates on the sideline. The cheers in the stadium may have been louder than they were a few seconds earlier, when the Bucs forced a fourth-down stop to clinch the NFC South and a playoff berth.
MIKE EVANS. 1000 YARDS.
— notNFL (@notnfl.bsky.social) 2025-01-05T21:18:19.657Z
The coaching staff’s next move was to effectively unclinch the NFC South. Evans entered the game needing five catches and 85 receiving yards to reach 1,000 and his bonus; he was five yards shy when the Tampa offense took over on downs with 36 seconds left and a 27-19 lead. Rather than have quarterback Baker Mayfield kneel out the game, Coen and head coach Todd Bowles decided they’d run another pass play to get Evans his yards.
A coach with average levels of risk tolerance might feel a little nervous under the circumstances: The Bucs led by only one possession; they were on their own side of the field; and every Saints defender knew the play would be a pass to Mike Evans. Bowles’s reputation for conservative in-game decision-making made this an especially funny departure from type. After the game, he was right back in character. Asked whether he felt like he was willing Evans’s YAC into existence after the pass was complete, Bowles said tersely, “It was a sigh of relief that we didn’t turn it over.”
Still, it didn’t sound like Bowles had needed much convincing in the moment. “It was a matter of what kind of pass we were going to throw,” the coach said. “I didn’t want an interception. We talked about screens and slants, and knew they were going to double him and motioned him over, getting him open and did a good job getting ‘em. He’s earned it, he’s done everything for this organization and this team, and we’re happy for him.”
Mayfield wanted to make up for what he felt was a personal failing on the Bucs' last touchdown drive. He'd looked for Evans and, finding him double-covered, dumped it off to running back Bucky Irving instead. “Shit. We won the game—great—but now I'm going to be the guy that didn't get him 1,000 yards, so now he's going to have to play 11 more years,” Mayfield remembered thinking. Evans, who'd missed three games this season with a hamstring injury, said his team felt secure enough in the play call that no one minded the risk too much.
“Obviously we can’t turn the ball over, can’t give them another chance," Mayfield said. "But how do we want to formulate this play to get Mike the ball to where he can’t get double-covered? And that was what we came up with, and Mike did the rest. And he deserves that. This guy means so much to this community, this team, this organization, for years.”
The mic'd-up clip of the catch and the little moment Evans shared on the bench with Tristan Wirfs afterward is also sweet enough to make you forget the alternate pick-six nightmare scenario. What matters more: the NFC South championship, or the bonds of brotherhood? Besides, who else was going to win the division? The Falcons?
