The top storyline for the Bucs coming out of the bye week is how they can find a way to dig out of a 4-6 hole and reach the postseason again. A big help in getting back to the team’s winning ways is the return of star wide receiver Mike Evans, who has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury.

Mike Evans, the greatest offensive player in Bucs’ history, immediately makes Tampa Bay’s offense better with his presence alone. Since he’s been out the passing game has really just gone through tight end Cade Otton with brief contributions from other receivers. When Evans his back, he’ll be the top target and provide a lift that the unit needs at the moment to make a playoff push.

Bucs WRs Mike Evans and Sterling Shepard – Photo by: USA Today

“It’s huge, just for the chances,” Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “We talk about trying to get explosive plays in and somehow creating that and we’ve tried to be dialing some things up within the scheme. It’s huge to be able to have that threat in one-on-one coverage, to be able to take advantage of it and then when they do want to double cover it, it opens things up for other guys. It’s always a big factor when he’s playing.”

That is, of course, if he’s healthy enough to play. The bye week sure helped with getting Mike Evans back quicker without having to play another game without him. He was listed as limited in practice on Wednesday, but many signs point to Evans coming back as the Bucs face the Giants on Sunday.

“Mike is trending that way,” head coach Todd Bowles said. “We’ll see how he does the rest of the week.”

“From what I can see, good, and just [from] talking to him, he seems really positive about it,” Mayfield said. “I mean, you guys know, Mike is a pro. He’s going to do everything he can to get back out there with us and fight for this team as we take it one game at a time.”

Mike Evans’ 1,000-Yard Streak Is In The Balance For Bucs

A subplot after the main story for the Bucs is whether or not Mike Evans can continue building on his own record and a tying another. He currently owns the NFL record for most consecutive years to begin a career with 1,000 receiving yards at 10 seasons. While that is it’s own record, he’s another 1,000 yard season away from tying Jerry Rice for the most consecutive 1,000-yard season at 11.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Evans stands at 335 yards on the year with seven games to go. He’s 665 yards away from 1,000, meaning he’ll need to average 95 yards per game the rest of way to reach it. That’s not impossible, but will be very difficult. If the Bucs were to to lose one of their next three games and takes them out of the playoff race, this might become the only major storyline left if Tampa Bay doesn’t have anything else to play for.

In a perfect world, the Bucs can win out or win enough games to reach the postseason while Mike Evans can also get his numbers. Understanding how much Evans means to the organization, would the Bucs overdo getting him the ball just to get his record even if he’s not the right read on the play?

“No, I don’t think it’s a concern,” Todd Bowles said. “We’re trying to win the ballgame. Mike is a big part of the offense, so he’s going to be in the ballgame when he comes back. We’ll go from there – see how they’re playing us and take it from there.”

Mike Evans has always been a team-first guy and would rather trade in his stats for another Super Bowl championship. There’s no need to question what he desires most. And he will be the focal point of the offense so the odds are that if the Bucs are scoring points, Evans is the reason because of it.

The best way for Evans to reach 1,000 yards would be to have a monster game right out of the gate either this Sunday against the Giants or next week against the Panthers. In five of his last six seasons Evans has had a least one game where he’s registered at least 170 receiving yards or more in a single. The exception was 2021 where his biggest game was 113. Here are the numbers as follows:

2023: 171 (Week 2 vs. Bears)

2022: 207 (Week vs. Panthers)

2021: 113 (Week 5 vs. Dolphins)

2020: 181 (Week 16 at Lions)

2019: 198 (Week 8 at Titans)

2018: 179 (Week 8 at Bengals)

Bucs WR Mike Evans Photo by: USA Today

For arguments sake, if you were to take the average of those biggest games excluding 2021, the average comes out to 187.2. So if Evans has another monster game in him during his return and can get to 187, this would put him at 522 yards on the season with six games remaining, needing 478 more yards to go. That immediately bumps the average yards per game necessary from 95 yards to 80 yards. Still not easy, but slightly more attainable.

Hopefully the Bucs are in a scenario where they’re still worried about winning as much as they are about getting Evans his record. Some of this naturally falls on quarterback Baker Mayfield, who’s the one responsible for getting Evans the ball. Mayfield is aware of the situation, but also knows how the wins will go a long way as they also keep an eye on Evans chasing history and adding to his Hall of Fame career.

“You guys have been around Mike for long enough now,” Mayfield said. “The streak – yeah, it’s important to us, but he cares about winning. He’s a huge part of this offense when he’s in there, so I think that will come naturally. I’ve been in the situation when you’re trying to force-feed the ball to a guy and that’s not how this offense works especially, so staying true to the reads. Defense, like I said, dictates where the ball needs to go. When we have our one-on-one matchups with him, we need to take advantage of it.”