Wide receiver Mike Evans waits for the snap from quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Courtesy of Vanessa Wenzl
By Jorden Pompey
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ roller coaster of a season is finished after the Detroit Lions beat the Bucs in their second meeting 31-23 in the NFC Divisional Round at Ford Field on Jan. 21.
Tampa started the playoffs with a dominant performance over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card who previously beat Tampa in week 3. Tampa did have the potential to setup a rematch against the San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers.
The Lions’ defense took care of business forcing two interceptions one of them in the final minutes to clinch their spot in the NFC Championship.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield had another 300-plus-yard game completing 26 of his 41 passing attempts. The running game could not get going at the beginning of the game as running back Rachaad White had a team-high of 55 rushing yards.
Mayfield’s counterpart, Jared Goff threw for 227 yards on 43 attempts with a passing touchdown to wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Josh Reynolds.
“Obviously we’re disappointed because anything short of the Super Bowl was our goal, we weren’t good enough today, they fought all year I was very proud of them they should be proud of each other for what they fought through…,” Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Bowles said.
Bowles was questioned about not using his final timeout with 36 seconds left on the clock to have another chance to get the ball back. Through his eyes, there was no point in using the timeout.
“They already had a field goal lined up and it would have been about 12 seconds left on the clock at the end of the ball game, we weren’t going to come back from that. No sense of prolonging the obvious,” Bowles said.
Tampa now must change their focus to free agency during this off-season.
With Mayfield and wide receiver Mike Evans at the top of the list of free agents. Mayfield has expressed his desire to return next season and would like Evans to be a vital piece to return next season.
“This team’s about winning and we have a group full of guys that were all about that, it’s not about individual guys it’s not about that and that’s what’s made it special. But if I’m back I want Mike back, that guy’s a stud,” Mayfield said.
Baker led Evans to another 1,000 receiving-yard seasons to extend his streak to 10 years accomplishing that feat.
“Baker’s a hell of a player and he showed everybody that he’s criminally underrated, and I was happy when we signed him. I knew he’d be a great player for us,” Evans said.
Bowles would like to have both Evans, Mayfield and more pieces of defense back on the field for Tampa next season.
“It’s too early to talk about that and business is business, but Baker had a hell of a year, we love him, the guys love him and then we’ll see what the future holds,” Bowles said.
As for Evans, a contract extension has been a topic of conversation as both parties failed to agree last offseason. Evans still sees a future playing in Tampa Bay and is highly gracious of the city.
“I would love to be back; I love Tampa Bay. Been here my whole career, the city has been great to me the franchise has been unbelievable to me and my family…” Evans said.
