by Carter Brantley
The Bucs made things far more interesting than they needed to be against a middling division rival playing for nothing with their rookie backup quarterback taking snaps, but they pulled it out, taking home a 27-19 victory over the New Orleans Saints Sunday afternoon in front of an eventually electric crowd at Raymond James Stadium.
They also achieved some wonderful history, helping Mike Evans secure his 11th consecutive season with at least 1000 receiving yards, tying legendary Jerry Rice’s record for that mark and continuing to break Evans’ own record for most consecutive seasons with that mark to start someone’s career.
Evans achieved the record in dramatic fashion, with an end-of-game 9-yard catch called while the Bucs were already ahead by 8 points and could kneel the clock out. But the Bucs couldn’t pass up the chance to help their guy join the history books, and the fans went nuts because of it, putting an exclamation mark on a roller-coaster season that ends with the Bucs as NFC South champs for the 4th straight season.
Things looked bleak to start, with the Bucs going into halftime down 16-6 and the 4th quarter down 19-13.
But Baker Mayfield submitted a ballsy (if not perfect) performance where he set a career high in rushing yards, scrambling his way to 68 yards for the day.
After Baker galvanized the team with some of his signature “Oh no, oh no, oh yes!” plays where he put himself in harms way trying to fight for extra yardage, the Bucs managed to get down inside the 10 after a huge catch from rookie receiver Jalen McMillan, who’s submitted a quality second half of the season after struggling first coming out of the University of Washington, to set them up with 1st and goal.
Until there was a flag, because McMillan used “finger guns” when celebrating getting the first down.
But, the former Husky redeemed himself, hauling in an impressive toe-tapping touchdown grab to seal the drive and ultimately seal the game, as the Bucs held up on defense and got an extra score on a catch-and-run from Bucky Irving at the end of the 4th quarter.
Then, that Mike Evans magic happened.
And all the fans went home happy.
Now the Bucs are in the playoffs as the 3rd seed due to the Los Angeles Rams losing, and they face a familiar opponent in the Washington Commanders, a team they took down at Raymond James to open the regular season.
The Commanders will travel to Tampa Bay some time next weekend to kick off their playoffs under rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who seems like a shoo-in for Offensive Rookie of the Year, as he’s become one of the most dynamic players in football with his dual-threat ability and tremendous arm talent.
But that’s a problem for next weekend. For now, it’s time to celebrate the Bucs being NFC South champs for the 4th straight season, a feat that’s never been accomplished by any Bucs team in franchise history.
Fire those cannons, it’s a great time to be a Bucs fan.
