Matt LaFleur conceded he did not call a good enough game as a head coach after the Green Bay Packers' collapse in their shock 27-22 defeat to the New York Giants.
Playing in their first game in the United Kingdom, the Packers looked in command at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after building a 20-10 half-time lead.
From there, however, the Packers scored just two points, which came on an intentional safety given up by the Giants at the end of the game, as New York produced a remarkable comeback.
A 15-play, 91-yard drive capped by a two-yard rush for Gary Brightwell saw the Giants tie the game at 20-20 before Saquon Barkley, who finished with 106 yards from scrimmage, averaging over six yards per touch, gave New York the lead with a two-yard run on a direct snap.
Green Bay responded with a drive to the Giants' six-yard line but failed to punch in the tying score, Aaron Rodgers seeing a fourth-down throw to Allen Lazard batted down before he was sacked on a failed Hail Mary attempt in the final seconds.
The Packers had dictated matters in the first half through the ground attack and the short passing game, but the run was a non-factor in the second, as Green Bay was forced to punt after gaining only 46 yards on their first two drives before the failed effort to tie the game.
While LaFleur credited the Giants' defense and their coordinator Wink Martindale for forcing the Packers away from the run, he did take responsibility for an anaemic second-half showing.
Asked if he anticipated going pass-heavy, LaFleur told his post-game press conference: "Just depended upon what they were giving us. Like I said, we had a lot of run-pass cans [options].
"They played a lot of single high [safety coverages], manned us up. Do you want to run into a loaded box or try to get it through the air?
"Unfortunately that didn't work for us. Like I said, give credit. Wink is a guy I got a lot of respect for. He out-coached us in the second half, and they outplayed us.
"Give New York all the credit. They out-coached us, they outplayed us. They definitely wanted it more. It was the tale of two halves. They kicked our butt in the second half. You can't do that in this league.
"Obviously the plan and the play calls that I gave weren't good enough.
"We just got to regroup. Everybody's got to look in the mirror and ask themselves what they can do better because it was a collective effort right there in terms of not being able to come out on top.
"They kept playing. Give New York a ton of credit. I don't think the mindset for our guys was ever to let up. Certainly you look at the results out there. There was too many mistakes. It wasn't just one person; it was a collective effort like I talked about.
"It starts with myself. I got to be better. I got to be better for this team. We got to demand that we get better in certain areas. It's just disappointing."
Browns score late touchdown to end Steelers' streak in snowy contest
Nick Chubb ran for a 2-yard touchdown in heavy snow with 57 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns stunned division rival Pittsburgh 24-19 on Thursday night, ending the Steelers' five-game winning streak.
Chubb's score came in his first game against the AFC North-leading Steelers (8-3) since the running back sustained a season-ending left knee injury on a carry last year at Pittsburgh.
The Browns (3-8) had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and were down 19-18 before getting the ball back with 3:22 remaining after Pittsburgh punter Corliss Waitman shanked a 16-yarder.
With snow piling up and covering the yard lines on the field, Cleveland's Jameis Winston completed a third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy to the Pittsburgh 9. Two plays later, Chubb barrelled into the end zone.
The Steelers had one last chance, but quarterback Russell Wilson's Hail Mary on the final play was knocked down by Browns safety Grant Delpit in the end zone, touching off a wild celebration at Huntington Bank Field.
NFL: Texans bounce back, extend Cowboys' woes
Joe Mixon's 109 rushing yards and three touchdowns helped get the Houston Texans back on track with Monday's 34-10 win over the floundering Dallas Cowboys.
Houston (7-4) snapped a two-game losing streak behind Mixon's powerful running and a defence that sacked Cowboys' fill-in quarterback Cooper Rush five times and forced two turnovers, including a fumble Derek Barnett returned 28 yards for a touchdown that gave the Texans a 27-10 lead in the fourth quarter.
Dallas (3-7) has now lost five straight, its longest skid since dropping seven in a row in 2015, and fell to 0-5 at home. The Cowboys have been outscored by 118 points (187-69) at AT&T Stadium, the third-largest negative differential through five home games in a season in NFL history.
Rush did throw a 64-yard touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin in his second straight start subbing for an injured Dak Prescott, and finished with a career-high 354 passing yards with one interception while completing 32 of 55 attempts.
C.J. Stroud threw for 257 yards with an interception for Houston, which extended its lead over the second-place Indianapolis Colts to two games in the AFC South.
The Texans never trailed after Mixon ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run on the game's opening drive, and the veteran running back added a 1-yard scoring plunge late in the first quarter to give Houston a 14-0 lead.
Turpin got Dallas on the board by taking a short pass from Rush and breaking free from the Houston defence nine seconds into the second quarter, but the Cowboys were shut out in the second half after pulling to within 17-10 on Brandon Aubrey's 53-yard field goal with just under six minutes left before half-time.
Burnett's strip sack of Rush and return of the resulting fumble helped put the game away with 12:31 left, and Mixon tacked on his final touchdown of the night with 3:16 remaining to cap a 35-yard drive that began after the Texans stopped the Cowboys on downs.
Mahomes to use Chiefs' first loss of 2024 as 'spark'
Patrick Mahomes said the Kansas City Chiefs will use their first loss since Christmas Day 2023 as fuel after the Buffalo Bills halted their unbeaten start to the season.
Josh Allen scrambled for a stunning 26-yard touchdown with just over two minutes to play as the Bills improved to 9-2 with a 30-21 win over the reigning Super Bowl champions.
The result ended the Chiefs' 15-game winning streak, a run that began after they lost to the Los Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day last year and included their dramatic triumph over the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl LVIII.
The Chiefs had started this season 9-0 to take control of the race for the AFC's top seed, but they could have few complaints about Sunday's result.
The Bills outgained the Chiefs by 366 yards to 259, also recording 24 first downs to Kansas City's 19 and enjoying almost nine more minutes in possession.
Mahomes, however, was relaxed about the end of his team's winning streak, saying: "The undefeated thing was cool, but that's not our ultimate goal.
"It's a good football team, so there's nothing to hang your head about. We feel like we can play better, so we will get back to work and try to use this as a spark so that we can be a better football team in the end."
The Chiefs rank just 16th in the NFL for yards per game (337.9) and 11th for points per game (24) in 2024, with many of their victories – including against the Denver Broncos in Week 10 and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 – coming via last-gasp defensive or special teams plays.
Mahomes actually feels the team could benefit from a reality check, adding: "I'm hoping that [losing] is a benefit.
"I'm not going to say I or we are relaxed, but at the same time I feel like we were just coming away with these wins at the end of the games.
"I think it's going to spark us to have more urgency, especially at the start of football games, especially with the offense, and that comes from me and turning the ball over on the first drive. It's something you can't do in big games like this."
No quarterback has thrown more interceptions than Mahomes' 11 (level with Geno Smith and Jordan Love) this season, while a passer rating of 90.3 ranks him a lowly 20th among all players at the position.
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