The 2021-22 NFL season was officially launched last night by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Dallas Cowboys) The game was expected to be a thriller, but it turned out to be an incredible thriller. There were two lead changes in just the last two minutes and a Tom Brady classic comeback drive that led to a winning field goal. One missed call.
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Dak Prescott looked amazing in his first game since last season's devastating injury. CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper and Amari Cooper saw the ball often and early to assist their quarterback. The Cowboys were legitimate contenders against the best defense in the NFL and Ezekiel Elliott was absent (not his fault, he was just not part of Kellen Moores gameplan).
Tom Brady proved that he still has a lot left in him on Tampa's side. Leonard Fournette made the best catch of the night. Rob Gronkowski looked amazing on his eight receptions, two touchdowns and 90 yard journey. Antonio Brown looked just like Al Michaels, and Chris Godwin had a great night with only one miscue at the goal line. Mike Evans, Tampa Bay's presumed No.1 receiver didn't look too good.
Evans, 28 years old, has enjoyed a remarkable NFL career. He is the only receiver to have seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons since their rookie season. Evans looked nothing like a record-holder last night. Evans looked like the No. He was the No. 4 option in the Bucs' offense. Last night's game saw Evans targeted six times less than Godwin, Brown and Fournette. Yikes! On 12 percent of his passes, Tom Brady saw Evanss way.
These numbers are a bit misleading. Evans was targeted just six times in a single game in his entire career (24 if you add Week 14 of 2019, where Evans was injured early), and seven times last season. Evans was only 17.4 percent targeted in this year's game. He has been leading the Buccaneers in this category since 2015. However, Evans has received less target share each season since 2017. Although Evans won't be completely out of the game after one viewing, it is clear that Evans isn't the same player he was. Evans' target share has been decreasing for many years. However, Evans saw only a 1.3 percent decrease in his target share between 2019 and 2020.
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Anyone who watched last night's game knew that Evans preferred Gronkowski, Godwin and Brown over Brady. Although the Cowboys did make a concerted effort to minimize Evans' impact on the game, this is what the Cowboys secondary are referring to. The secondary Cowboys are not good. Evans is a skilled player and Trevon Diggs and Anthony Brown were told to shadow Evans throughout the night. However, Evans should not be silenced by them.
Evans is still a talented receiver in the league. His size and ball skills make Evans a formidable threat in the redzone. He isn't the same Evans that he was once, who used to be the best receiver in the league. Although I don't want to make too many assumptions based on one game alone, it is clear that the No. 1 slot needs a new receiver. Godwin or Brown? Brown or Godwin? It's not Mike Evans, I don't know. His streak of historic achievements ends in 2021.
