TAMPA — The latest renewal of one of the NFC’s most pugilistic feuds ended with a unanimous decision. A would-be slugfest regressed into a figurative standing-eight count.

Marshon Lattimore simply couldn’t stand toe-to-toe Sunday night with Mike Evans. To Bucs fans, Evans’ utter dominance of his longtime nemesis was sublime.

But, alas, a subplot.

Among the prevailing footnotes’ of the Bucs’ 23-20 season-ending wild-card loss to the Commanders was a vintage Evans performance (seven catches, 92 yards, one touchdown), much of which came at the expense of Lattimore. In the first half alone, Evans was targeted four times when being defended by Lattimore, making four catches for 55 yards, including a 1-yard scoring catch.

“It was two great players going at it,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “Mike’s a great player, Marshon’s a great player. Mike made his catches, I’m sure Marshon won a few, but Mike’s effort and what he continues to do for us is amazing.”

While Bowles veered toward the diplomatic, Evans veered toward dominance. By the second half, Lattimore essentially had been relieved of his press-coverage duties on Evans, for obvious reasons. In addition to losing on all four Evans targets when defending the future Hall of Famer, Lattimore was whistled for pass interference on Evans in the end zone with 13 seconds to play in the first half.

The following play, Mayfield found Evans for the 1-yard TD, tying the score at 10-all.

“That’s just who Mike is,” Bucs rookie receiver Jalen McMillan said. “It doesn’t really matter who’s covering Mike, he’s going to get open.”

David undecided on future

If Sunday night’s game represented Lavonte David’s NFL swan song, he exited with a flourish.

The Bucs’ longest-tenured player, who signed a one-year deal last spring, finished with eight tackles and a sack against the Commanders, putting a bow on another banner season in which he again led the Bucs in tackles (130 including Sunday’s game) at age 34.

Afterward, David — who turns 35 in 10 days — remained noncommittal about his future.

“A lot to think about, man. A lot to think about,” he said. “You know, I’m just so (disappointed). Just go ahead, go home, be with my little girl, be a dad and go from there.”

David has posted 11 seasons of at least 100 tackles. His 5.5 sacks were his most in a regular season since 2013, when he had seven.

Odds and ends

With Sunday’s loss, Tampa Bay finished 0-5 in prime-time games this season. … After a nondescript first half, running back Bucky Irving totaled 77 yards on 17 carries, breaking Warrick Dunn’s single-game record (72) for rushing yards by a rookie in the playoffs. … Third-year tight end Cade Otton, activated Sunday after missing nearly a month with a knee injury, made an historic return of sorts. Otton had two catches for 32 yards, giving him 244 in four career playoff games. That broke the franchise postseason record for tight ends previously held by Rob Gronkowski (226).

Audible

“We think we have a very good football team when everybody is clicking on all cylinders. We’ve got to be clicking on all cylinders. The effort was outstanding. We hung together all year. We’ve been through some things. We’ve got to eat it, take it on the chin and we’ve got to get better in the future.” — Bowles

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