Tom Brady called on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to improve after he equalled an NFL record by moving to 11-0 in his career meetings with the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Brady shook off a shoulder injury to help the Bucs to go 3-2 for the season with a 21-15 home win over their NFC South rivals, cutting a two-game losing streak.
The 45-year-old's 11th straight win against Atlanta saw him equal the record for most wins by a quarterback without losing against a single NFL opponent, matching John Elway's 11-0 return against the New England Patriots and Andrew Luck's perfect record against the Tennessee Titans.
Speaking after the win, however, Brady said he was simply focused on halting the Bucs' alarming slide following recent defeats to the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs.
"Yeah, it's obviously tough to lose straight at home, right? And we didn't deserve it, but that's football, you've got to earn it," Brady said.
"There's no easy games, you've got to play good. Certainly, five games in, we've got a lot of work to do.
"We need a lot of people to step up. We've got to get people out there, healthy, playing consistently, we've got to keep practicing, make the corrections and continue to improve."
Brady threw 52 passes throughout Sunday's game, completing 35 for 351 yards and a touchdown.
However, the Bucs were pegged back after storming into a 21-0 lead, and Brady acknowledged they failed to maintain their standards in the second half, adding: "We just had a lot of three and outs, we just weren't very good.
"Bad execution and it wasn't our best in the second half. We've got to learn from it and get better."
Brady was aided by a questionable roughing the passer call against Atlanta's Grady Jarrett late on, when a third-down sack would have given Atlanta the ball with a chance to steal victory late on.
But the Bucs star was unwilling to get involved in debates surrounding the controversial call, simply stating: "I don't throw the flags."
Cousins throws for 509 yards, 4 touchdowns in Falcons' OT win over Buccaneers
Kirk Cousins passed for a career-high 509 yards and four touchdowns, the last of them a 45-yard scoring pass to KhaDarel Hodge in overtime that gave the Atlanta Falcons an improbable 36-30 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night.
After a wild fourth quarter that featured a blocked field goal, a fumble and an interception, Cousins and the Falcons (3-2) got the ball back at their own 20 with 1:14 remaining in regulation and no timeouts, trailing 30-27.
Cousins completed five passes to push Atlanta to the Buccaneers 29, then hustled to the line to spike the ball with a single second on the clock. In all the confusion, the Falcons were called for delay of game as they lined up for a tying field goal, but it didn't cost them.
Younghoe Koo knocked it through from 52 yards to force overtime, one week after he made a 58-yarder with 2 seconds left to beat the New Orleans Saints.
The Falcons won the coin toss in overtime and made sure Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (3-2) didn't get their hands on the ball again. Cousins connected with Drake London on a couple of passes before throwing one over the middle to Hodge, who split the secondary and raced untouched to the end zone to end the game.
Chiefs place top wide receiver Rice on injured reserve
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the media Thursday the team was waiting for swelling to go down on Rashee Rice's knee before performing additional tests.
Three hours later, the Chiefs had enough information to know he'll be side-lined for at least one month.
The Chiefs placed Rice on injured reserve later Thursday, meaning he will out for a minimum of four weeks.
Rice was injured in last Sunday's 17-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and it was reported he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
There has been no update on the extent of the injury, but a torn ACL would side-line him for the rest of the season.
The second-year receiver was injured on a bizarre play when he collided with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who inadvertently dove into Rice's knee as the two team-mates were attempting to tackle Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton on an interception return.
Rice was carted off to the locker room shortly after leaving the field and eventually ruled out of the game.
His injury is the latest blow to a Kansas City team that is already without leading rusher Isiah Pacheco, who is recovering from a fractured fibula he sustained in Week 2.
It also leaves Mahomes without his top target, as Rice led the NFL with 24 receptions through this season's first three weeks.
No other Kansas City player had double-digit receptions entering Week 4, though Travis Kelce finally took on a larger role in the offence.
The veteran tight end had seven receptions for 89 yards against the Chargers after catching eight passes for 69 yards in the first three games.
Despite losing two of their top play-makers, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are 4-0 heading into their Week 5 Monday night game against the New Orleans Saints.
Sturm Graz 0-1 Club Brugge: Tzolis strike seals visitors' first win
Christos Tzolis scored the only goal as Club Brugge edged out Sturm Graz 1-0 for their first win in this season's Champions League.
The Greece international delivered the decisive blow in the 23rd minute at 28 Black Arena on Wednesday.
Both sides were seeking their first point in the competition, having recorded defeats on matchday one against Borussia Dortmund and Brest respectively.
Brugge broke through midway through the first half, as Tzolis controlled before firing in off the post from the edge of the penalty area.
The visitors went close to doubling their lead after the break, but Sturm Graz goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen came to the hosts' rescue with a series of fine saves.
Urged on by the home fans, Christian Ilzer's side went in search of an equaliser, but it did not arrive as Brugge held out for the points.
Data Debrief: Third time unlucky for Sturm Graz
Sturm Graz have now suffered four successive Champions League defeats for the third time in their history.
Meanwhile, the Austrian side have now lost their last four European matches against Belgian opposition without scoring.
By contrast, Brugge maintained their perfect record of three straight wins against Austrian opponents, while they have now kept four clean sheets in five Champions League away games - as many as in their previous 22.
Tzolis' strike came from one of three shots on target, becoming the first Brugge player to register that amount in a single Champions League game since Hans Vanaken did so against Paris Saint-Germain in September 2021.
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