Buccaneers

Tampa Bay lost to the Bills 44-32 after trading scores for most of the game. Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles believes those offensive outputs should lead to wins, and explained the defensive lapses in coverage and pass rush. 

“You score 32 points, you’re supposed to win the game,” Bowles said, via the team’s website. “Sometimes it’s coverage, sometimes it’s pass rush. But at the same time, it’s got to get fixed. We’re playing hard, but then we have lapses here and missed tackles there, and we give up big plays. That’s what happened in the second half and two times in the first half. When we’re covering, we can’t get to the quarterback; when we get to the quarterback, we’re covering wrong on the play. We’ll get that fixed going forward.”

• Bowles said CB Jamel Dean is day-to-day with a hip flexor injury and will be re-evaluated later this week. (Greg Auman)

Falcons

Atlanta fell to 3-7 after losing to the Panthers at home in a game where QB Michael Penix Jr. re-aggravated his knee injury. Falcons HC Raheem Morris shouldered the blame for the loss and expressed his confidence that they can get something going with QB Kirk Cousins. 

“You have to find a way to win games,” Morris said, via Josh Kendall of The Athletic. “It definitely is on me. There is no such thing as a losing team, only a losing leader. I’m the leader, and we lost.”

“We will go find out what Kirk does well this week, (Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson) and those guys will work together depending on what happens with Michael.”

• Cousins praised Morris despite the loss: “[He] is resilient. He’s built for this. He’s a glass-half-full person and it makes it a positive place to come into work. He’s a coach you want to win for because you feel like he’s in your corner and giving you what you need to be successful.” (Josh Kendall)

Saints

• ESPN’s Todd McShay believes that while New Orleans did select QB Tyler Shough in the second round in 2025, they could trade back to select a quarterback in 2027.
• This would give the Saints a full season to see what Shough can do before moving on to another rookie.
• Saints S Justin Reid was fined $17,389 for a hit on a quarterback for a blow to the head/neck.