Never mind that he missed three games this season, the statistical marvel that is Mike Evans marches on.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver continued his career-long streak of 1,000-yard receiving seasons on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, hauling in a 9-yard pass in the final seconds of the fourth quarter from Baker Mayfield to surpass the mark for the 11th straight season. In the process, Evans tied Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for the most 1,000-yard receiving seasons consecutively.
Evans also extended his NFL record for most consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns to begin a career and edged closer to Rice's all-time mark of 14 overall.
Evans needed 85 yards on Sunday to reach 1,000, and he got 89, with the final catch coming after the Buccaneers' 27-19 win was secured with a defensive stop.
Instead of kneeling to run out the clock with another NFC South title secured, Tampa Bay chose to run one more play to get Evans to the milestone, dialing up a short catch-and-run to the left side which did just enough. The wideout was mobbed by teammates after the play.
Now 31, Evans began his streak as a 21-year-old rookie in 2014. He long ago passed another Hall of Famer, Randy Moss, for the most in a row to begin a career when he logged his seventh straight 1,000-yard season back in 2020.
One of the many impressive attributes of Evans' career has been his durability. Ahead of the 2024 season, he had played fewer than 15 games just once, when he appeared in 13 during the 2019 season because of a hamstring injury.
Another hamstring ailment this season sidelined Evans for three games and put his 1,000-yard streak in peril. It also shined a light on it as he returned in Week 12 with his climb to another 1K year becoming a weekly topic in the NFL world.
The NFL is a most volatile place, but now Evans' run of consistent statistical splendor has reached 11 straight seasons, a mark of magnificence matched only by the wide receiver widely regarded as the greatest to ever play.
