The Tampa Bay Buccaneers can secure their fourth straight division title on Sunday by beating NFC South rival New Orleans at Raymond James Stadium. Along the way, they hope to get wide receiver Mike Evans at least 85 yards, which would allow him to join receiving G.O.A.T. Jerry Rice as the only players in NFL history to record 11 consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Since the end of last Sunday's 48-14 thrashing of Carolina, in which Evans hauled in eight passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns to put him on the brink of this incredible accomplishment, there has been an ongoing discussion about how the Buccaneers "balance" those two pursuits. Head Coach Todd Bowles put that idea to bed on Wednesday.
"Winning is the most important thing, so there's no balance there," said Bowles. "We're going to win any way we can try to win. We'd like to get him that in the process, but we're trying to win the game."
Mayfield obviously agrees on the hierarchy of goals here (Evans surely does as well), but he has an added perspective on the two pursuits: They are intertwined. One of the best ways to defeat the Saints would be to get Evans the football throughout the game.
"To get him to that – obviously, winning is the most important part but those two things go hand in hand," said Mayfield. "Mike is a huge part of this offense and a huge part of this passing game and so getting him involved early and often is a lot of the reason we've had success. Those things go hand in hand. There's balance and the most important thing is winning but I see it playing out – if we win, Mike is getting the record."
It's a good point. Since Mayfield got to Tampa, he has had five games in which he threw to Evans for over 100 yards. The Buccaneers are 5-0 in those contests. This year, they are 5-2 when Evans scores a touchdown. The target for Evans when it comes to matching Rice is 85 yards; he's surpassed that four times this season, including three in the last five weeks, and the Buccaneers have won them all. The Buccaneers would never trade that record for a loss on Sunday, but Mayfield knows they all badly want Evans to have a shot at history.
"Let's put things in perspective," he said. "You're talking about tying somebody that has all receiving records across the NFL throughout history. You're talking about somebody [in Evans] that's consistently been somebody in this community that has raised people up, continued to be the face of this franchise and be there for people, so that record is important for us."
Mayfield and Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen have consistently preached taking what the defense is giving you and not forcing the ball to any particular player, so it's possible that the Saints' approach to the game will dictate, in part, how often the ball will go to Evans. Mayfield has certainly spread it around; seven different Buccaneers have over 300 receiving yards. And Mayfield knows Evans won't be asking for the ball. Most likely, he won't have to.
"We have to focus on winning and getting him the ball, but [our] guys are playing for each other," said Mayfield. "Mike won't say anything about it, and that's just who he is. That's why we love him, that's why everybody loves him, that's why he's been so consistent for so long. It's never been about just himself; it's been about winning and trying to find ways to win."
