(Reuters) – Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans booked his 11th consecutive season with 1,000 or more receiving yards on Sunday, equaling Hall of Famer Jerry Rice’s record, as the Buccaneers beat the New Orleans Saints 27-19 to book their spot in the postseason.
With Tampa Bay up by a score and just 36 seconds on the clock, quarterback Baker Mayfield tossed him a nine-yard pass to ensure Evans – who was five yards short of the 1,000 mark – would get over the line.
Evans made a graceful catch to send the home crowd and his teammates into a frenzy, as the 31-year-old extended his own career-opening record with 1,000 or more receiving yards in all of his 11 seasons in the league.
“I’m happy that they had me go out there and get that because it’s 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 told reporters.
Throwing from well behind the 50-yard-line, Mayfield acknowledged that the play was a calculated risk, giving the Saints an opening if they were able to force a turnover when he could have taken a knee to end the contest.
“The conversation was like, ‘Alright, well obviously we can’t turn the ball over, can’t give them another chance, but how do we want to format 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,” said Mayfield.
“He deserves that.”
It capped a terrific reversal of fortune for Tampa Bay, who won all but one of their final seven games to book a spot in the playoffs for the fifth straight time.
“We knew we had to win to get in the playoffs,” head coach Todd Bowles told reporters. “There’s no tomorrow so we had to play.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Toby Davis)
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