Playing in the 11th season of his Hall of Fame career, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans is at the point where everything he does moves him up the ladder as one of the NFL’s all-time great wide receivers.
As Sunday’s matchup with the Carolina Panthers got underway, Evans was 182 yards shy of tying the NFL’s greatest wide receiver of all time, Jerry Rice, by logging his 11th straight 1,000-yard season. Starring down the barrel of tying Rice’s record, it was clear that Baker Mayfield and the Bucs’ offensive game plan was to feed Evans.
Catching all three first-quarter targets, Evans registered his 11th 60+ reception season in as many years. In doing so, Evans tied with Jerry Rice, Derrick Mason, and Travis Kelce with the fourth-most consecutive 60-catch seasons in NFL history. What sets Evans apart from Rice, Mason, and Kelce is that the Buccaneers superstar wide receiver is the only player to accomplish such a feat every season to begin their career.
His two first-half touchdown receptions make things sweeter for the 11-year veteran, giving him 11 on the year. With the first touchdown, Evans totaled 10 on the season, giving him double-digit touchdown receptions for the sixth time in his career, the fifth-most in NFL history. Evans’s second touchdown of the day gave him the 24th multi-touchdown game in his career, tied for the sixth-most in NFL history.