Bucs WR Evans Begins 2023 With A Record-Setting Bang

The 2022 season hasn’t gone according to plan for Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans.

A year after breaking his own single-season franchise record for touchdown catches with 13 in 2020, Evans set a new record with 14 TDs in 2021. But this season Evans had just three touchdown catches prior to Sunday’s Week 17 matchup against the Panthers.

Evans hadn’t scored a touchdown since he had a pair of scores against Kansas City in a 41-31 loss in Week 4.

But all that changed against Carolina when Tampa Bay needed Evans the most.

With the NFC South division title on the line, Evans came through with one of the best games of his career, catching a season-high 10 passes for 207 yards and three touchdowns in a 30-24 win over the Panthers.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

“Yeah, Mike played awesome, like he always does,” Bucs quarterback Tom Brady said. “I love playing out there with him and he’s an amazing player – I’ve missed him too many times this year, so it was nice to connect with him and hopefully we can keep that going. I think we will.”

Evans dropped a wide open touchdown bomb from Brady on the Bucs’ first drive in Carolina back in a 21-3 loss in Week 7. But in the rematch, Evans atoned for that mistake, hauling in TD passes covering 63, 57 and 30 yards to help the Bucs come back from a 14-0 deficit and take a 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter.

The deep ball connection between Brady and Evans has been off for most of the year, but reignited just in time for Tampa Bay to win back-to-back NFC South titles.

“With the Panthers the last time we played them, we knew we left way too many plays out on the field,” Evans said. “I know I did. I was excited to get another opportunity, because they play a lot of Quarters, man, and Cover 3, so I knew we were going to have opportunities in the pass game. The [offensive] line did a great job protecting, everyone had their hand in the pile on offense. It was our best game offensively and we needed it.”

The Bucs hit 30 points for just the second time all season, and the Brady-to-Evans connection was a big reason why on Sunday.

“They were playing a lot of Cover 1, and Tom was just dropping dimes,” Brady said. “Those were some really, really good balls. One of the best games I’ve seen Tom play since he has been here. They were falling right in the breadbasket every time. He had an unbelievable game.”

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

Brady finished the game completing 34-of-45 passes for a season-high 432 yards with three touchdowns, a rushing touchdown and no interceptions. Evans posted his third game of 100 receiving yards or more this season and reached 1,000 receiving yards for the season for a ninth straight year, extending his own NFL record to start his career.

The best receiver in Bucs history tied Tim Brown (1993-2001) with nine consecutive 1,000-yard seasons at any point in a career. Only Jerry Rice has more with 11 seasons (1986-96).

“I had two 1,000-yard seasons [at Texas A&M], as well,” Evans said with a laugh. “Nah, every year is different. I just thank God that he has blessed me to be healthy and have great people around me to be able to accomplish this feat. Hopefully I can keep extending it every year that I play.”

Bucs WR Evans Had One Of His Best Games vs. The Panthers

On Sunday, Evans was just two yards shy of his career-best, which was 209 yards at Washington back in 2014. And he was nine yards away from Vincent Jackson’s franchise record of 216 yards against New Orleans in 2012.

Bucs WR Mike Evans and QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Evans has caught three touchdowns in a game twice before – versus Chicago last year and against the Giants back in 2019. That’s one shy of Jimmie Giles’ Bucs franchise record, which was four against Miami in 1985.

Evans has 18 multi-touchdown games since entering the league in 2014. Only Las Vegas Pro Bowler Davante Adams has more (20).

“Yeah, Mike played awesome, like he always does,” Brady said. “I love playing out there with him and he’s an amazing player. I’ve missed him too many times this year, so it was nice to connect with him and hopefully we can keep that going. I think we will.”

Evans and Brady won’t just have one more game to play together this season next week in Atlanta. The NFC South champs will host either Dallas or Philadelphia in a Wild Card game in the first round of the playoffs the week after – thanks to their role in a big win over Carolina on Sunday.