It was a fantastic Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but things were particularly great for wide receiver Mike Evans. Against the No. 1 scoring defense in the league, Evans went off for 159 yards and two touchdowns, turning in his best game of the season and one that helps get him back on track to keep his historic streak alive.
Evans missed three games earlier this year due to a hamstring injury, something that put his streak of consecutive 1,0000-yard seasons in jeopardy. Coming into Sunday, he needed 410 yards over the last four games to hit that mark, but his massive day against the Chargers put a nice little dent in that total.
With three games left in the season, he needs just 251 yards to reach 1,000 yards for the 11th straight season. Doing that would tie Jerry Rice's all-time record and mean he's just a season away from outright owning a piece of NFL history.
Not only was Evans' big day good for him, but it helped power the Bucs to a 40-17 win and get the vibes exactly where they need to be.
Todd Bowles dropped a hilarious line about Mike Evans missing a third TD against the Chargers
It wasn't just a bunch of yards that Evans racked up on Sunday, he also found the endzone twice. He should have had a third touchdown but he was dragged down by the t-shirt hanging from underneath his uniform.
After the game, head coach Todd Bowles was clearly in a good mood and dropped one of the best lines of the day when talking about how Evans barely missed getting a third touchdown to add to his big game.
"He almost ran for another one if his t-shirt wasn't so thick. I told him we need to get him a shorter t-shirt," Bowles joked.
Bowles had more than witty comebacks to describe what Evans means to the Bucs not only in Sunday's game but overall.
"You can't put a price on what he does for this team. From a mental standpoint, from a physical standpoint, from a team standpoint, he's everything a player aspires to be. He's tough, does great in the community, takes care of his body, and he comes up big with plays whether you're singling him or doubling him," Bowles said. "We can't ask for anything more than what he's given us."
The Bucs felt his loss when Evans missed three games, and while the offense was able ot still function it wasn't nearly on the level it could be. We saw an example of that on Sunday, as it cannot be overstated how insane it is that the Bucs hung 40 points on the league's best defense and did so with realtive ease in the second half.
Flowing things through Evans has been a common thread of success, and Sunday was no exception. The vibes are off the charts now, both with Evans chasing history and the Bucs' season being back on track. Tampa Bay went from being on the brink to controlling the No. 3 seed in the NFC, and Evans went from potentially watching his decade-long streak end to being well within striking distance of reaching it.
Let's just how he gets there by more than just a thread.
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