Advertisement

Mike Evans extends 1,000-yard streak, matches Jerry Rice's all-time record with incredible late play vs. Saints

Instead of just taking a knee to run out the clock, the Buccaneers ran one last play to Mike Evans to he could hit the mark and earn a $3 million bonus on Sunday

ryan young
Staff writer
·3-min read

Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were going to get Mike Evans his record — and a cool $3 million bonus — no matter what.

The Buccaneers, despite holding an eight-point lead over the New Orleans Saints with just seconds to go on Sunday afternoon at Raymond James Stadium, lined up ready to run a play. All they had to do was take a knee, and the NFC South was officially theirs.

But Evans was five yards shy of hitting the 1,000-yard mark on the year. So one last time, Mayfield hit Evans on a quick out route. The play worked perfectly, and it sparked a massive celebration on the field.

Evans has now recorded at least 1,000 receiving yards in 11 consecutive seasons, which matched Hall of Famer Jerry Rice’s all-time record. Rice pulled that off from 1986-1996 with the San Francisco 49ers. Rice finished his career with 14 seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards.

"I was hoping we'd get a stop, because I can't pass up history," Evans said. "Coach Bowles didn't want to let it pass up or [offensive coordinator Liam Coen]. I'm happy that they had me go out there and get that, because this has been hard to do for 11 straight years and to be tied with one of the, if not the greatest receiver of all time means a lot to me."

Evans finished the season with 1,004 receiving yards. Evans had 89 yards on nine receptions in the win on Sunday. Since he hit 1,000 yards on the year, Evans secured a $3 million bonus. He will add another $666,666 as a top-10 wide receiver in touchdowns across the league this season, too.

"That was what we came up with, and Mike did the rest," Mayfield said. "He deserves that. This guy means so much to the community, this team, this organization for years. For him to be able to reach that feat 11 years in a row and tie Jerry Rice, it's unbelievable."

With their 27-19 win on Sunday, Evans and the Buccaneers officially won the NFC South for a fourth straight year and earned a spot in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. Mayfeld threw for 221 yards and had two touchdowns with an interception in the win, and Bucky Irving had 89 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. His last score came late in the fourth quarter to seal the win, but that left Mayfield with a great one-word response knowing they might not get the ball back.

The Buccaneers will now host either the Detroit Lions or the Minnesota Vikings in the first round next weekend. If they can win that game, Evans will earn another $500,000 bonus.

Even though simply taking a knee was probably the smart play going into the postseason, Mayfield and the Buccaneers found the best way to help out their future Hall of Fame wide receiver. As far as contract incentives go in Week 18, the Buccaneers played this one perfectly.