The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a much more chaotic final Sunday of the regular season than they would have hoped for. The New Orleans Saints came out with nothing to lose, being eliminated from the playoffs, and coach Darren Rizzi coached what everyone expected to be his last game.
The Bucs came into the game with two things on their mind: winning so they could clinch the NFC South and getting Mike Evans to 1,000 yards.
Late in the fourth quarter, the division was expected to be clinched as they were up going into the final two minutes. They did not have Mike Evans to 1,000 yards yet, and he needed just five more to tie the record with Jerry Rice. What would ensue was a broken play where Baker Mayfield was forced to dump it off to Bucky Irving, and he would score to put the Bucs up eight.
When the Bucs got the ball back, they threw a nine-yard pass to Evans instead of kneeling, giving him the record.
Hilariously, though, Baker Mayfield and Bucky Irving were both nervous after their late touchdown.
Irving said his immediate thought after scoring was “(expletive). We won the game, great, but now I’m gonna be the guy who didn’t get [Mike Evans] to 1,000 yards. Now he’s gonna have to play 11 more years.”
Mayfield had a similar word pop into his head (NSFW) late in the game.
In the end, despite the added stress and pressure of achieving the record, the defense came through and gave the offense one last possession. The Bucs checked both boxes they needed to come into Week 18, and now they can focus on a home playoff game next weekend.