The Tampa Bay Buccaneers restored some of the momentum from their 2-0 start with a dominant performance against Philadelphia in Week Four after a desultory Week Three loss to Denver. However, they now face a potentially pivotal stretch in their season, as they play three of their next four games against division opponents in a tightly-packed NFC South. That starts on Thursday Night Football in Atlanta, as the Buccaneers take the prime-time stage for the first time in 2024.

The Buccaneers are 3-1 after grounding the Eagles, 33-16, while the Falcons are 2-2 following a last-second victory over New Orleans on a 58-yard Younghoe Koo field goal. So far, the Bucs have held their ground in the division against an Atlanta team that was widely considered the favorite after the addition of Kirk Cousins, but that could be in jeopardy over the next month. The Buccaneers and Falcons will also do battle in Week Eight at Raymond James Stadium.

Most of all, the Bucs want to build on that early-season momentum, something they failed to do in 2023 when a similar 3-1 start devolved into a 1-6 stretch that nearly put them out of the playoff hunt.

"You try to treat any game the same, but you know the weight that it carries when you know divisional opponents," said quarterback Baker Mayfield, who is off to his own fast start with a 106.9 passer rating and eight touchdown passes. "And just the opportunity on a short week, playing somebody on the road, it's a great opportunity for us to continue to build what we've had so far. I think back to last year…every year's different but I think back to last year and we were 3-1, too. Now I wouldn't say that we operated as clean and we knew our identity, but right now, don't take anything for granted. Just because you start 3-1, it's a long year and we've got to continue to improve and just build as the year goes on."

The Falcons pose a significant threat to the Bucs' upward trajectory. The defense features an imposing pair of veteran safeties in Jessie Bates and Justin Simmons, plus the interior line duo of Grady Jarrett and David Onyemata. The offense, now led by Kirk Cousins, is peppered with recent top-10 draft picks at every skill position and is propelled by Chris Lindstrom, Jake Matthews and a very strong offensive line.

Atlanta has a new coaching staff led by Raheem Morris and a number of new faces on the roster, including Cousins, Simmons, edge rusher Matthew Judon and wideout Darnell Mooney.

"They're different offensively and defensively," said Head Coach Todd Bowles, comparing the 2024 Falcons team to one they split with in 2023. "They're playing faster and they're playing with a lot of confidence. They added quite a few guys – they've got a lot of talent over there. They can beat you a bunch of different ways. We've got to be on our P's and Q's."

The Buccaneers also face the challenge of a short week with travel, plus a lengthy injury report that still includes such key players as right tackle Luke Goedeke, defensive lineman Calijah Kancey and All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. The season and the division race won't be decided on Thursday night, but the Buccaneers do recognize the importance of the game, even if they don't want that to dominate their thoughts.

"It's definitely a huge opportunity for us but we can only take it one game at a time, right?" said wide receiver Chris Godwin. "We for sure cannot be looking past anybody, let alone one of our division rivals that presents a really big challenge for us. It's going to be a big game for us, especially on a short week. We've got to make sure that we're on our P's and Q's in the film room and in our gameplan to be able to go in there into a hostile environment. I'm sure their stadium will be rocking. It's going to be a tough challenge for us, but I think we're up to the task."

GAME AND BROADCAST DETAILS

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1) at Atlanta Falcons (2-2)

Thursday, October 3, 8:15 p.m. ET

Mercedes-Benz Stadium (capacity: 72,000)

Atlanta, Georgia

Television: Prime Video

TV Broadcast Team: Al Michaels (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Kaylee Hartung (reporter)

Radio: 98Rock (WXTB, 97.9 FM), Flagship Station

Radio Broadcast Team: Gene Deckerhoff (play-by-play), Dave Moore (analyst), T.J. Rives (reporter)

Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente

Spanish Radio Broadcast Team: Carlos Bohorquez (play-by-play), Martin Gramática (analyst)

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

The Buccaneers and Falcons have played each other 61 times since 1977, and the series is as close as it can get with an odd number of games played. Last season, Atlanta initially tied it up at 30-30 with a 16-13, at Raymond James Stadium, but the Bucs took the lead back later in the season with a 29-25 victory in Atlanta. The first of those games was also tied three times, at 7-7, 10-10 and 13-13, before Atlanta kicker Younghoe Koo won it at the buzzer with a 51-yard field goal. Mike Evans scored the Bucs' only touchdown on a 40-yard catch, and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. kept his team alive in the fourth quarter with a remarkable forced fumble at the goal line against quarterback Desmond Ridder. In the rematch, Ridder put the Falcons ahead, 25-22, with three minutes left on a six-yard touchdown keeper but Baker Mayfield was able to counter that with a 12-play, 75-yard drive ending in his 11-yard touchdown pass to Cade Otton.

Overall, the Bucs-Falcons head-to-head record has rarely strayed too far from dead even. In fact, when the Buccaneers defeated the Falcons in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Week 13 of the 2021 campaign, completing a season sweep, it caused the series lead to change hands for the eighth time overall. The Buccaneers upped their lead to two games with a 21-15 win over Atlanta in Tampa in October of 2022 but the Falcons brought it back down to one, 30-29, by earning the split with a 30-17 decision in the regular-season finale. Overall, the Buccaneers have won six of the last eight meetings in the series.

Since the Bucs and Falcons became fellow NFC South denizens in 2002, the two teams are tied at 22-21. The Bucs' longest winning streak in the series is six, between 1997 and 2003; the Falcons have won five in a row on two occasions, first from 2008-10 and again from 2016-18.

The Falcons won the 2022 regular-season finale, a contest in which the Buccaneers, having already been locked into the fourth seed in the NFC playoff field, rested many of their starters and pulled most of the rest early in the contest. Ridder, in just his fourth career start, threw for 224 yards and two touchdowns and Atlanta's defense held the Bucs to 222 total yards of offense.

Earlier in the 2022 season, the Buccaneers held on to a 21-15 victory despite a late Atlanta comeback. Tampa Bay controlled the action for three quarters and used two Leonard Fournette touchdowns to take a 21-0 lead into the final period before Atlanta stormed back with two touchdowns. After an Olamide Zaccheaus touchdown catch made it a one-score game, the Bucs' offense was able to drain the final 4:38 from the clock with one long drive.

The Bucs' two wins in 2021 were both by double-digit margins. In Week at Raymond James Stadium, the Buccaneers got five touchdown passes from Tom Brady, including two each to Mike Evans and Rob Gronkowski – plus Mike Edwards' two fourth-quarter pick-sixes as an exclamation in a 48-25 victory. In the rematch in in Atlanta, Chris Godwin set a team single-game record with 15 catches and Gronkowski once again found the end zone twice in Tampa Bay's 13-point win. Russell Gage, who is now a Buccaneer, caught 11 passes for 130 yards for the Falcons.

Prior to briefly retaking the series lead in 2021, the Buccaneers had been on top with a 24-22 advantage midway through the 2016 season before Atlanta reeled off five straight victories in a streak that included sweeps in 2017 and 2018. Tampa Bay has the all-time edge in scoring in the series, with 1,374 points to the Falcons' 1,302.

In their run to the Super Bowl championship in 2020, the Buccaneers won eight straight spanning the regular season and the postseason, and they downed the Falcons twice in the final three weeks of the regular season, scoring a total of 75 points. Tampa Bay won, 31-27, at Atlanta in Week 15 and then took the rematch in Tampa by a 44-27 margin. The first win required a wild comeback after the Falcons raced out to a 17-0 halftime lead, with Tom Brady throwing for 330 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. The second game at Raymond James Stadium was less stressful, as the Buccaneers led from wire to wire, but included another huge day by Brady, who threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns.

The Buccaneers came close to taking both halves of the series in 2019, winning by a 35-22 score in Atlanta and taking a 22-16 lead into the fourth quarter in the Week 17 rematch in Tampa. However, Matt Ryan led a game-tying drive in the final three minutes of that contest, leading to Younghoe Koo's 33-yard field goal as time expired in regulation. The Buccaneers won the overtime coin toss but lost the game on the first play of the extra period, as Jameis Winston's last pass for Tampa Bay was picked off and returned 27 yards for a touchdown by Deion Jones.

Both of the games in 2018 went down to the wire, neither ending well for the Buccaneers. In Week Six in Atlanta, Tampa Bay rallied from a 15-point deficit to make it a 31-29 game with four minutes to play on Peyton Barber's five-yard touchdown catch. The Falcons then tacked on a field goal to make it a five-point game with just over a minute to play but Winston got the visitors back into scoring range with consecutive completions of 18, 18 and 19 yards to DeSean Jackson, Mike Evans and Adam Humphries. With seven seconds left and the ball at Atlanta's 21, the Bucs tried a tricky play in which Winston began to scramble up the middle and then suddenly attempted a lateral to Humphries. The ball ended up on the turf before Evans scooped it up and got a one-hopper off to Jackson, who appeared to have a path to the end zone pylon along the left sideline. However, Jackson couldn't haul it in and time expired on a 34-29 Falcons victory.

In the Week 17 rematch, at Raymond James Stadium, the Bucs gave up a 10-point halftime lead and fell behind by 11 in the fourth quarter before once again rallying, this time taking the lead with five minutes to play on a 19-yard Chris Godwin touchdown catch. That was too much time to leave Ryan, however, and he hit Jones on a pair of 16-yard passes to get the ball into field goal range. Matt Bryant won it as time expired with a 37-yarder.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS

• Rich McKay, who is the chief executive officer of AMBSE and the Atlanta Falcons, is the son of John McKay, the first head coach in Buccaneers franchise history. Rich McKay also had a long stint as a Buccaneers executive, starting out as the vice president of football administration before taking on the title of General Manager in 1994. He maintained that position through much of the 2003 season before leaving for the Falcons.
• Atlanta Head Coach Raheem Morris began his NFL coaching career with the Buccaneers in 2002. Excluding the 2006 season, in which he was the defensive coordinator at Kansas, Morris spent nine seasons with the Buccaneers, progressing from a defensive quality control coach to defensive assistant to assistant defensive backs coach to defensive backs coach, all on Jon Gruden's staff. At the end of the 2008 season, he was briefly tabbed to take over at defensive coordinator for the departing Monte Kiffin, but the team suddenly went in a different direction, letting Gruden go and promoting Morris to head coach. Morris held that position for three seasons (2009-11) as the Buccaneers compiled a 17-31 record.
• Morris is in his first year at the Falcons' helm, and he brought Jimmy Lake with him from his pervious stop with the Rams to serve as his defensive coordinator. Lake had two separate stints on the Bucs' coaching staff, first as an assistant defensive backs coach on Gruden's staff (2006-07) and then as the defensive backs coach under Morris (2010-11).
• Falcons Pass Game Specialist/Game Management Coach Tim Berbenich, was on Tampa Bay's coaching staff from 2006-11, starting out as an offensive quality control coach for two seasons before moving over to assistant running backs coach in 2008. Morris retained him on his staff when he took over the next season and Berbenich spent three years as an assistant wide receivers coach.
• Ike Hilliard, the Falcons' wide receivers coach, played the last four years of his 12 as an NFL receiver in Tampa, from 2005-08. In those four seasons he recorded 178 receptions for 1,767 yards and eight touchdowns.
• Atlanta Inside Linebackers Coach Barrett Ruud was a second-round draft pick by the Buccaneers out of Nebraska in 2005. He played the first six of his eight seasons in the NFL in Tampa, starting 68 of the 95 games in which he appeared and amassing 657 tackles, 6.0 sacks, 22 tackles for loss, seven interceptions and seven, seven forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries.
• Another member of Morris's Falcons staff, Outside Linebackers Coach Jacquies Smith played three seasons and one game of a fourth for the Buccaneers from 2014-17. He recorded 13.5 sacks in that span.
• Punter Bradley Pinion is in his third season in Atlanta after playing the previous three in a Buccaneers uniform. Pinion played in 47 games for the Buccaneers, posting a gross punting average of 43.6 yards and also serving as one of the NFL's best kickoff specialists.
• Buccaneers Cornerbacks Coach Kevin Ross spent a small portion of his long NFL playing career in Atlanta, joining the Falcons in 1994 after 11 years with the Kansas City Chiefs. Ross played two seasons in Atlanta before finishing his playing career with one year in San Diego and one more back with the Chiefs.
• Keith Tandy, who joined the Buccaneers' coaching staff in 2021 as a defensive/special teams assistant, wrapped up his NFL playing career with one season (2018) in Atlanta after six years on the field for Tampa Bay.
• Falcons Assistant Head Coach/Defense Jerry Gray played nine seasons in the NFL before beginning his coaching career. His final season as a player was with the Buccaneers in 1993.
• Defensive lineman Demone Harris, who is on the Falcons' practice squad, first entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Buccaneers in 2018. He played in three total games for Tampa Bay in 2018 and 2019.

SENIOR COACHING STAFFS

Tampa Bay:

• Head Coach Todd Bowles

• Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen
• Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach Kacy Rodgers
• Pass Game Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach Larry Foote
• Special Teams Coordinator Thomas McGaughey

Atlanta:

• Head Coach Raheem Morris

• Offensive Coordinator Zac Robinson
• Defensive Coordinator Jimmy Lake
• Special Teams Coordinator Marquice Williams

KEY 2024 ROSTER ADDITIONS

Buccaneers:

• C Graham Barton (1st-round draft pick)
• OLB Chris Braswell (2nd-round draft pick)
• G Ben Bredeson (UFA)
• TE Devin Culp (7th-round draft pick)
• CB Bryce Hall (UFA)
• RB Bucky Irving (4th-round draft pick)
• WR Kameron Johnson (UDFA)
• G Elijah Klein (6th-round draft pick)
• WR Jalen McMillan (3rd-round draft pick)
• G Royce Newman (W-GB)
• S Tykee Smith (3rd-round draft pick)
• CB Tavierre Thomas (UFA)
• S Jordan Whitehead (UFA)

Falcons:

• LB JD Bertrand (5th-round draft pick)
• QB Kirk Cousins (UFA)
• DT Brandon Dorlus (4th-round draft pick)
• TE Ross Dwelley (FA)
• CB Antonio Hamilton (UFA)
• OLB Matthew Judon (T-NE)
• CB Kevin King (FA)
• RB Jase McClellan (sixth-round draft pick)
• WR/KR Ray-Ray McCloud (UFA)
• WR Darnell Mooney (UFA
• WR Rondale Moore (T-AZ…currently on injured reserve)
• DT Ruke Orhorhoro (2nd-round draft pick)
• QB Michael Penix (1st-round draft pick)
• S Justin Simmons (FA)
• DE Bralen Trice (3rd-round draft pick…currently on injured reserve)
• WR Casey Washington (6th-round draft pick)
• TE Charlie Woerner (UFA)

ADDITIONAL 2024 CHANGES/DEVELOPMENTS OF NOTE

Buccaneers:

• As Todd Bowles enters his third season as the Bucs' head coach he'll be working with his third offensive coordinator in as many seasons. Last year, Bowles picked former Seattle Quarterbacks Coach Dave Canales to replace Byron Leftwich, but Canales departed this offseason to take over as the head coach of the Panthers. Bowles then turned to Liam Coen, who comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree with the Rams and most recently was the offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky. Three members of the Bucs' 2023 staff followed Canales to Carolina – Brad Idzik, Harold Goodwin and Joe Gilbert, which led to some other new additions on Bowles staff in 2024. Those include Offensive Line Coach Kevin Carberry, Pass Game Coordinator Josh Grizzard, Wide Receivers Coach Bryan McClendon and Assistant Offensive Line Coach Brian Picucci. In addition, long-time Special Teams Coordinator Keith Armstrong retired in the offseason, so the Bucs brought in Thomas McGaughey as his replacement.
• Under Coen, the Buccaneers' offense is expected to employ quite a bit more pre-snap shifts and movement than it had in 2023, and Coen also plans to widen the variety of the types of runs the ground game employees. One of Coen's other key initiatives in an attempt to get a moribund rushing attack going is to give quarterback Baker Mayfield multiple plays to choose from in the huddle and at the line so that the offense runs into unfavorable looks less often.
• Despite having tight salary cap restrictions, the Buccaneers made it a priority to retain key players from the 2023 season who were scheduled to hit free agency. General Manager Jason Licht and his staff successfully checked off every item on their list of priorities, beginning with a new two-year deal for franchise icon Mike Evans. That helped bring the team's negotiations with quarterback Baker Mayfield to a conclusion. After Mayfield played the 2023 season on a one-year prove-it deal, his resurgence landed him a lucrative new multi-year contract. The Bucs were also able to re-sign linebacker Lavonte David and kicker Chase McLaughlin. With the other deals in the works, the Bucs used the franchise tag on safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and later inking him to a new contract making him the highest-paid defensive back in the NFL.
• All-Pro tackle Tristan Wirfs didn't need a new contract for 2024 but he was entering the final year of his rookie deal and the Buccaneers were highly motivated to lock him in to a new long-term pact. That lengthy process came to a head on August 1, when the two sides agreed on a five-year extension that runs through the 2029 campaign and makes him the highest paid offensive lineman in the NFL.
• In March, the Buccaneers traded cornerback Carlton Davis, who had started 75 games over six seasons with the team, to the Detroit Lions for a third-round pick in this year's draft. The Buccaneers eventually used that pick to select Washington wide receiver Jalen McMillan.

Falcons:

• Atlanta brought in a new team leader in 2024, turning back to a coach who has ties to both of the teams in Sunday's game. Raheem Morris is getting his second shot as an NFL head coach after he held the same position with the Buccaneers from 2009-11. Morris had most recently been the Rams' defensive coordinator for the 2021-23 seasons, but he spent nine years with the Buccaneers and six with the Falcons, including a stint as the interim head coach in 2020. Morris brought two assistants with him from Los Angeles to serve as his coordinators, with Zac Robinson taking over the offense and Jimmy Lake guiding the defense.
• The Falcons were able to retain a handful of their players who had a shot to leave in free agency this offseason, most notably defensive lineman Kentavius Street, who they had acquired in a trade with Philadelphia last year after Grady Jarrett suffered a season-ending injury. Others who re-signed with the team included wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge, swing tackle Storm Norton and linebacker Nate Landman. However, Landman has since landed on injured reserve with a quad injury.
• The Falcons also lost their third-round draft pick, edge rusher Bralen Trice, to a knee injury suffered in the team's preseason opener. Since Trice was placed on injured reserve prior to the roster cuts to the 53-man regular season roster, he will not be eligible to return to the active roster in 2024. The Falcons responded almost immediately by sending a 2025 third-round pick to the New England Patriots for pass rusher Matthew Judon. Earlier in that same week, during a joint practice with the Dolphins, wide receiver Rondale Moore suffered a knee injury as well, which led to him being placed on injured reserve. The Falcons had traded quarterback Desmond Ridder to the Cardinals during the offseason to acquire Moore.
• Atlanta did lose some notable names in free agency during the offseason, including defensive end Calais Campbell, who signed with the Dolphins after he was not asked to be re-signed by the Falcons. Campbell tied for the team lead in sacks in 2023. Other departures included those of running back/return man Cordarrelle Patterson (Steelers), wide receiver Van Jefferson (Steelers), wide receiver Scotty Miller (Steelers), cornerback Jeff Okudah (Texans), cornerback Tre Flowers (Jaguars), center Matt Hennessey (Eagles), tight end Jonnu Smith (Dolphins) and wide receiver Mack Hollins (Buffalo).

INJURY REPORT

Key:

DNP: Did not participate in practice

LP: Limited participation in practice

FP: Full participation in practice

NL: Not listed

Buccaneers:

• C Graham Barton (ankle) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
• LB SirVocea Dennis (shoulder) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP
• WR Mike Evans (knee/calf) – MON: DNP; TUES: LP
• DL Greg Gaines (ankle) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
• DL Will Gholston (knee) – MON: DNP; TUES: LP
• T Luke Goedeke (concussion) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
• DL Logan Hall (foot) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
• WR Kameron Johnson (ankle) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
• DL Calijah Kancey (calf) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP
• TE Ko Kieft (ankle) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
• WR Jalen McMillan (hamstring) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP
• WR Trey Palmer (concussion) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP
• DL Vita Vea (knee) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
• S Antoine Winfield Jr. (foot) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP
• T Tristan Wirfs (knee) – MON: LP; TUES: LP

Falcons:

• LB Troy Andersen (knee) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP
• WR Ray-Ray McCloud (ankle) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
• T Kaleb McGary (knee) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
• RB Bijan Robinson (hamstring) – MON: LP; TUES: LP

WEATHER FORECAST

Domed stadium. Outside: Cloudy. High of 89, low of 72, 14% chance of rain, 79% humidity, winds out of the ENE at 5 mph.

GAME REFEREE

Head referee: Ronald Torbert (15th season, 11th as referee)

BETTING LINE

• Favorite: Falcons (-2.5)
• Over/Under: 43.5

INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS IN 2024

Buccaneers-

Points Scored: K Chase McLauglin, 31

Touchdowns: WR Mike Evans/WR Chris Godwin, 3

Passing Yards: QB Baker Mayfield, 984

Passer Rating: QB Baker Mayfield, 106.9

Rushing Yards: RB Bucky Irving, 203

Receptions: WR Chris Godwin, 27

Receiving Yards: WR Chris Godwin, 322

Interceptions: S Christian Izien/CB Zyon McCollum, 1

Sacks: LB Lavonte David, 2.0

Tackles: CB Jamel Dean, 33

Falcons-

Points Scored: K Younghoe Koo, 33

Touchdowns: WR Drake London, 2

Passing Yards: QB Kirk Cousins, 864

Passer Rating: QB Kirk Cousins, 83.4

Rushing Yards: RB Bijan Robinson, 224

Receptions: WR Drake London, 20

Receiving Yards: WR Darnell Mooney, 225

Interceptions: LB Troy Andersen/S Jessie Bates/S Justin Simmons, 1

Sacks: DT Grady Jarrett/OLB Matthew Judon, 1.5

Tackles: LB Troy Andersen, 41

TEAM STAT RANKINGS IN 2024

Buccaneers-

Scoring Offense: 11th (24.3 ppg)

Total Offense: 16th (319.0 ypg)

Rushing Offense: 25th (96.0 ypg)

Passing Offense: 9th (223.0 ypg)

First Downs Per Game: 10th (20.5)

Third-Down Pct.: t-11th (42.6%)

Sacks Per Pass Attempt Allowed: 29th (11.63%)

Red Zone TD Pct.: t-11th (60.0%)

Scoring Defense: 8th (19.5 ppg)

Total Defense: 18th (335.3 ypg)

Rushing Defense: 22nd (131.5 ypg)

Passing Defense: 16th (203.8 ypg)

First Downs Allowed Per Game: t-21st (20.5)

Third-Down Pct. Allowed: 18th (37.3%)

Sacks Per Pass Attempt: 27th (5.48%)

Red Zone TD Pct. Allowed: 12th (47.1%)

Turnover Margin: t-6th (+2)

Falcons-

Scoring Offense: t-22nd (18.8 ppg)

Total Offense: 19th (309.3 ypg)

Rushing Offense: 22nd (102.8 ypg)

Passing Offense: 17th (206.5 ypg)

First Downs Per Game: t-21st (17.5)

Third-Down Pct.: 29th (26.3%)

Sacks Per Pass Attempt Allowed: 6th (5.04%)

Red Zone TD Pct.: 29th (40.0)

Scoring Defense: 14th (21.3 ppg)

Total Defense: 19th (336.5 ypg)

Rushing Defense: t-25th (145.5 ypg)

Passing Defense: 13th (191.0 ypg)

First Downs Allowed Per Game: 25th (21.3)

Third-Down Pct. Allowed: 27th (47.4%)

Sacks Per Pass Attempt: 32nd (3.13%)

Red Zone TD Pct. Allowed: 11th (46.7%)

Turnover Margin: t-21st (-1)

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

• WR Mike Evans caught his third touchdown pass of the season in Week Four, giving him 97 in career and moving him past the Raiders' Davante Adams into sole possession of 12th place on the NFL's all-time list. Evans needs two more scoring grabs to tie Don Hutson (99) for 11th place on that list and three more to become the 11th player in NFL history to reach 100 touchdown catches.
• Evans' next game played will be the 159th of his career. That will break a tie with Mike Alstott and move Evans into ninth place in team history.
• With 106 more yards and three more touchdown grabs, Evans will become just the 10th player in NFL history with 12,000-plus receiving yards and 100-plus touchdown receptions. Of the other nine, eight are already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the ninth, Larry Fitzgerald, is likely a first-ballot inductee when he becomes eligible.
• QB Baker Mayfield threw for 347 yards in the Bucs' victory over the Eagles, giving him 5,028 since he joined the Buccaneers. With 125 more passing yards on Thursday against the Falcons, Mayfield will land in the top 10 in that category in franchise history, surpassing Jeff Garcia (5,152).
• Against Philadelphia in Week Four, David forced a fumble for the 30th time in his career. He needs one more forced fumble to break a tie with the Chargers' Khalil Mack to lead all active players with 31.

NOTABLY QUOTABLE

• Head Coach Todd Bowles on what kind of threat the Falcons' offense poses with QB Kirk Cousins at the helm: "He's a good football player. We played him last year in Minnesota. We've had our chances to play him a few times, but he's in a different offense this time. He's got a lot more weapons than he had, than just [Justin] Jefferson and a couple guys in Minnesota. He knows how to play the game. He runs the offense well, he knows where to go with the ball and how to get rid of the ball. He presents a great challenge."
• Wide receiver Chris Godwin on what has made QB Baker Mayfield so successful this season: "I think just his comfort level. The first year in a system, obviously, is tough just as a whole. And yes, this is our first year in this offensive system, but it's his second year with this group of guys and I think the camaraderie that we built last year really helped. I think the adversity that we faced when we all stuck together – I think [that] really helps this year. I think it's just a natural maturation process, just for him as a player. It helps having guys around you that care about you and that really have your back, and I think that he can really feel that. I'm sure he's said a couple of times, he's really happy here. That's because of the locker room that we have. We have a lot of great guys on this team. We care about each other, we want to work hard and we want to win. We have each other's back, so I'm sure that is probably one of the bigger factors in his success is just being able to go out, be himself and play free. It sure helps the rest of us."
• Pass Game Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach Larry Foote on how offenses have to account for nose tackle Vita Vea: "He can hold two guys. He covers both A gaps for us, and he can get vertical. You can see [on] that sack – he looked like more fresh legs than… He's definitely a big man that can move and that's why he's one of the best in this league. It's a shame that those nose tackles don't get the recognition that they deserve, but every offensive coordinator and center in this league understands how dominant he is."
• Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen on the rushing attack against Philadelphia and both Rachaad White and Bucky Irving averaging 4.9 yards per carry: "It's a week-to-week thing. We're trying to get better each week. I thought both guys, especially Rachaad, were running hard, running through arm tackles. Those guys both answered the bell in terms of coming out aggressively, breaking tackles, running physically. I thought the tight ends did a really nice job in the run game as well, being physical. Cade [Otton] and Payne [Durham] both did a really nice job. It was good to see those guys play at the level that they played. Those guys were playing really well on Sunday. I was very pleased with those two."
• Quarterback Baker Mayfield on the Falcons veteran safety duo of Jessie Bates and Justin Simmons: "Obviously, two really athletic safeties, able to do a lot of stuff in coverage [and] pressure-wise, great tacklers, but to me what stands out on tape is just how great of vets they are. They've seen it all, they've seen a lot of pass patterns, so they understand how to pass things off. For those two guys to be in the secondary together, it presents its own issues. They're able to disguise stuff, they do a really good job of that, and they both have really good ball skills, too."