Big effort from Evans helps Bucs record needed win Like a team mom, MaryAnne Smith stood just outside the doorway to the Buccaneers’ locker room at FedExField late Sunday afternoon all bundled up in black and handing out hugs. Bucs general manager Jason Licht was the first to receive one of Smith’s warm embraces. Then came the Bucs coach, her husband Lovie, who also got a kiss. The last of the hugs went to quarterback Josh McCown. Stressed out by a seemingly endless run of losses, McCown walked into the Bucs’ locker room a week ago and soon began to weep. He shed no such tears on this day. He had no reason. Led by their defense and rookie wide receiver Mike Evans, both of whom had breakout performances, the Bucs broke a five-game losing streak by beating the Redskins 27-7 in front of a crowd of 77,442. “I’d forgotten exactly what the routine is after wins,’’ Lovie Smith said. “But we figured that out pretty quick. There’s just natural emotion in that locker room right now.’’ Bucs players began expressing those emotions long before they reached the locker room. McCown came off the field and greeted Smith’s wife with beaming eyes and a wide smile. Left tackle Anthony Collins ran into the locker room shouting, “That’s how it’s supposed to look.’’ Rookie safety Bradley McDougald ran in shouting, “That’s how you do it.’’ So, how did they did do it? Well, the best way to answer that is to start at the beginning. After all, that’s where everything started to go right for the Bucs. On the first play from scrimmage, Bucs linebacker Lavonte David flushed Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III out of the pocket and into an awkward throw that bounced off the hands of a receiver and into those of linebacker Danny Lansanah. That set up the Bucs’ first score, a 32-yard Patrick Murray field goal. And while the offense struggled at first to keep pace, the defense was off and running on what proved to be its best day of the year. By the time it was over, the Bucs had sacked Griffin six times and forced three takeaways, including a first-quarter interception cornerback Johnthan Banks returned 19 yards for a touchdown. “We finally figured out how to play Buc Ball,’’ said Smith, whose zone-based defensive scheme is predicated on getting pressure from the four linemen and takeaways from the seven players left in coverage. “We always talk about starting fast on defense and setting the tempo and we did that today, getting that quick takeaway. Our front played really well today. They kind of set the tempo for us.’’ It was a tempo the offense struggled at first to keep pace with, settling for that field goal and giving the ball up on downs after recovering a fumble. But an offense that produced just 124 first-half yards caught fire in the second half, when McCown and Evans put the game out of reach with touchdown passes of 36 and 56 yards. Those plays capped a seven-catch, 209-yard, two-touchdown day for Evans, who is fast becoming not only one of the top rookie pass catchers in Bucs history, but in NFL history. On Sunday, he became the first rookie receiver since Arizona’s Anquan Boldin in 2003 to have a 200-yard, two-touchdown receiving day. It also was Evans’ third straight game with at least 100 yards and one touchdown. Antonio Bryant is the only other Bucs receiver to have a three-game stretch like that, in December 2008, and Smith thinks there are many more to come. “I’ve been around the league for a while and I don’t know that I’ve been with someone that’s been able to do some of the things he’s done,’’ Smith said of Evans. “It’s going to be fun to watch him develop.’’ McCown completed 15 of 23 passes for 288 yards behind a sturdy effort from the offensive line. He also got a tip from Evans. On the first of their two touchdowns passes, Evans ran in motion behind McCown and told him to just “throw the ball up’’ to him. McCown did just that, and the result was a throw into the waiting arms of Evans, who beat rookie cornerback Bashaud Breeland to grab the 36-yard pass that gave the Bucs a 20-7 lead with 4:44 left in the third quarter. The second of McCown’s touchdown throws to Evans was “completely on the offensive line,’’ McCown said. “They cheated the coverage and doing so left Mike against a linebacker. The thing there is, if you can have an extra (second to throw the ball) you can hit that, because you normally don’t have time to see all that happen. So, hats off to the line, because they made that play happen.’’ The question now is whether the Bucs can figure out a way to make what happened Sunday against the Redskins happen again next Sunday, when they travel to Chicago to face the Bears team that let Lovie Smith go two years ago. “I think we can,’’ said middle linebacker Mason Foster, who tipped the pass that Banks intercepted. “We know the formula for winning now. We showed it today.’’ The Bucs have shown those signs before. This was the sixth time they held a lead in the fourth quarter. The difference this time was their ability to finish the way they started. “You keep preaching to the guys, telling them that they’re heading in the right direction, but you really need to get some wins in there (to drive the point home),’’ Smith said. “We got that today. And we realize that this was just one game, but right now it’s about the moment. We found a way to win in a tough environment and that’s a sign we’re heading in the right direction.’’