Atlanta Falcons: Bounce back with a big performance

A week after the Panthers shut out the Falcons 30-0, Atlanta returned home to get their second win of the season, a big one against the Washington Commanders. The 34-27 win came behind a big performance from Michael Penix through the air. The quarterback finished 20-of-26 for 313 yards and two touchdowns with one interception through the air. Two pass-catchers finished with 100-plus yard games: Drake London had 110 yards on eight receptions. Bijan Robinson brought in four receptions for 106 yards, in addition to his 75 yards on 17 rushes, for 181 scrimmage yards and a score.

"I'll be an overall all-around player," Robinson told reporters after the win. "Do it in the run game. Do it in the pass game. That's why I'm here, to show the gifts that God's given me on both sides, from running routes being a receiver to being a running back. That's what I like to do. It only helps this offense; it only helps this team. For me to just get the ball in space, it doesn't matter what it looks like; that's what we love to do."

The win over the Marcus Mariota-led Commanders (Jayden Daniels remains out with a knee injury) was the first game after the Falcons moved offensive coordinator Zac Robinson down to the field to call the game from the sidelines.

"It was good," Penix said of the coaching changes. "It gives us confidence. To be able to come off to the sideline and be able to hear from him exactly what he's seeing and the way that he wants to set up the plays on the next drive, it was awesome to have. I feel like it definitely was a good thing for us."

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Strong second half, but still take first loss

The Bucs were down 24-6 at halftime and fought back into the Eagles' lead with a dominant second-half performance, even sans Mike Evans. In the end, a Saquon Barkley touchdown toward the end of the third quarter provided enough of a lead for the Eagles to leave with a 31-25 win over Tampa Bay in this battle of the unbeatens.

But Todd Bowles' crew didn't allow Jalen Hurts to complete a pass in the second half (on eight attempts). The Barkley touchdown drive came off a Bucs fumble, putting them deep in Tampa Bay territory. But due to two sacks, the Bucs allowed a total net negative one-yard in the second half.

"The fight, we're going to have that every week," said Bucs head coach Todd Bowles. "But you can't fight and get behind the eight ball against good teams and expect to win. We're always going to have fight; we just have to clean up mistakes now. It's getting to that point where we have to cut them down."

The Bucs had to play without Mike Evans on Sunday; he was sidelined with a hamstring strain that could keep him out for several weeks, although the Bucs haven't shared an exact timeline. Tampa Bay has now lost six in a row when Evans is not on the field. In his place, running back Bucky Irving was used as a receiving option, pulling in five receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown. And rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka brought in four receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown on a long pass of 77 yards. The performance eked Egbuka just past Tetairoa McMillan for most yards by a rookie through four games, with 282 yards total (McMillan has 278 yards through four games).

The story of the game, though, was the 21-3 lead Philadelphia built through the second quarter, headlined by a blocked punt returned for a touchdown on the first Bucs drive of the game.

"It's tough to come back from that against a good team," Bowles said. "The winner of these games when we play [the Eagles] usually starts out fast. We've started out fast in the past; they started out fast today, and you're not going to catch a team like that when you start out like that. Credit to them."

New Orleans Saints: Take steps forward but still winless

The Saints fell to 0-4 in Week 4 with a 31-19 loss to the Buffalo Bills. The group was able to take some steps forward, such as scoring their first opening drive touchdown in nine games. Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller combined for 105 rushing yards and a score. Spencer Rattler went 18-27 for 126 yards and one passing touchdown.

The Saints also attempted a Philly Special, but wide receiver Chris Olave threw an interception in the end zone when targeting Rattler.

"Ultimately, we didn't make enough plays to win this game," coach Kellen Moore said after the loss. "That's a really good football team. That team is going to play late into this season. We put ourselves in position, I felt like we were competing. We were playing the right way; we just came up short.

"We've just got to keep on going. We've got to keep going; we've got to keep battling. We've missed four (opportunities to win games), you're given 13 more of these, and we've just got to keep getting better and put ourselves in good position."

At one point in the fourth quarter, the Saints trailed the Bills by only two points. But then Josh Allen and crew took over, doing what they do best to add two fourth-quarter scores.

"We had opportunities. I thought we played much better than last week (in a 44-13 loss to Seattle)," Rattler said. "Credit to them, they took advantage of their opportunities, and we just fell a little short. We ran the ball really, really well. We were moving it up and down the field. There were a few moments in that game where we could have taken it over, and it doesn't always go your way.

"We're in these games and we've just got to close them out. It's frustrating. But we know who we are, we know what we can be and there's 13 more games left to show that. Whatever happens going forward, we're just going to keep working, keep building, and keep progressing."