The Tampa Bay Buccaneers put on a show at SoFi Stadium against the NFL's top-scoring defense. The Buccaneers dominated the Chargers, 40-17 and amassed 506 total net yards, including 223 on the ground. Mike Evans, a future Hall of Fame receiver, produced a vintage performance against the Chargers.
Evans tallied a season-high 159 receiving yards and scored two touchdowns. His 23 career regular season games with multiple touchdown receptions are the seventh-most in NFL history. Since 2016, Evans' 34 deep touchdown receptions (20-plus air yards) are fewer than only Tyreek Hill (42) per Next Gen Stats.
Near the end of the third quarter, Evans hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield. He used a subtle maneuver to generate inside leverage against Kristian Fulton to give Tampa Bay a 30-17 lead. His first came earlier in the quarter with the Bucs down by four. Mayfield rolled out of the pocket to the left to evade pressure and found Evans down the sideline, who continued running to stay in the quarterback's vision. No.13 quickly accelerated for a 54-yard score, sending the Bucs' fans in attendance to their feet.
"Today, we played almost a complete game, other than the couple turnovers," said Evans. "I should have run a better route on the in-cut but other than that, we really got everything we wanted today. We were physical, ran the ball and made plays down the field…I got going early. He [Mayfield] was looking for me and we had a really good gameplan and really great focus this week. We knew what kind of game it was going to be and we came and delivered."
The A&M product spurred the offensive output in Week 15, igniting the aerial onslaught. In the fourth quarter, he worked back inside off a screen to attack leverage, for a pickup of 23 yards. As one of the most underrated yet accomplished receivers in NFL history, Evans once again made his mark between the hashes. He showcased his elite catch radius, long-strided speed, knack for creating separation and physicality at the catch point.
