Commanders-Buccaneers clash renews volatile history between Evans, Lattimore

Marshon Lattimore would love to drop some speed bumps in Mike Evans’ drive to the Hall of Fame. After matching a prestigious NFL record set by Jerry Rice, Evans even got his own holiday declaration from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Don’t expect congratulatory greetings when Lattimore and the Commanders line up opposite Evans and the Buccaneers on Sunday.

Having missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, the Commanders’ cornerback is expected to return just in time to renew his rivalry with Tampa Bay’s record-breaking wide receiver when Washington (12-5) and Tampa Bay (10-7) clash on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium (8 p.m. ET, NBC). Lattimore said Friday he’s approaching the playoff game thinking about the present, not the past.

“Really, I’m just trying to lock him down,” said Lattimore, acquired from New Orleans in a Nov. 5 trade. “All the other stuff, it is what it is. You know if it comes, it comes. If it don’t, I’m just here to help my team.

“I don’t want to be physical just for the simple fact of what happened, of course. But I want to be physical with anybody. It’s just an extra level of it, just because of the past and all that. But, it’s really just being out there. It ain’t really about the mental game with me. It’s just like, you’ve got to know I’m here, you know what I’m saying?”

Lattimore has let Evans know he’s there in past meetings. In fact, Evans admitted earlier this year that he’s struggled to control his emotions around the cornerback. This week, Evans said he understands that he can’t cost his team.

“I’ve just got to be at my best,” Evans told Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “I’ve got to give my best, because he’s a really good player. Obviously, we’ve had a lot of really good matchups. If he’s playing, I look forward to the matchup.”

Lattimore should be playing, and the matchup with Evans is just one reason the Washington-Tampa Bay tilt could be the most exciting of the six games on Wild Card Weekend. The contest marks the NFL’s first wild-card game in four years to feature offenses that averaged better than 28.0 points per game. Washington, which won its last five regular-season games entering Sunday night, hasn’t won a postseason contest in two decades, since a victory at Tampa Bay in the 2005 playoffs.

The front-runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year, Jayden Daniels makes his postseason debut after setting a single-season NFL record with five touchdown passes in the final 30 seconds. And while both teams are vastly different since their last meeting, the Bucs’ 37-20 win in Week 1, there is some familiarity between the clubs.

For more information on the Commanders and Buccaneers, visit the Washington and Tampa Bay team pages at ProFootballPost.com.