ATLANTA (AP) — Desmond Ridder led an impressive drive for Atlanta in his preseason debut and the Falcons settled for a field goal with 2 seconds left for a 13-13 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals on Friday night.
After sitting the starters last week in a 19-3 victory at Miami, the Falcons (1-0-1) went with the ones for their opening possession.
Ridder completed 7 of 9 passes for 80 yards and also broke off a 7-yard run before the drive ended with an interception off a deflected pass. Cornerback Mike Hilton appeared to make contact with intended receiver Scotty Miller before the throw arrived, but no flag was thrown. The ball bounced into the air and was picked off by defensive end Joseph Ossai.
After a snoozer of a game, the final minute provided some dramatics in a largely empty stadium, with a bunch of backups and roster hopefuls on the field.
Jake Browning guided an 80-yard drive to that put the Bengals (0-1-1) ahead 13-10 with 50 seconds remaining. He completed four passes for 42 yards and scrambled twice for another 33 yards, setting up Chase Brown’s 1-yard touchdown run with 50 seconds remaining.
But Atlanta third-stringer Logan Woodside connected on three straight passes for 53 yards before a third-down throw in the end zone was batted down. The Falcons then sent out Younghoe Koo for the tying 45-yard field goal.
GIANTS 21, PANTHERS 19
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Daniel Jones played very much like a $40 million man in his preseason debut, throwing a touchdown pass to cap a near-perfect performance in leading New York past Carolina and improving No. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Young.
Jones, who signed a four-year, $160 million in March, completed 8 of 9 passes for 69 yards on his only series, capping it with a 4-yard touchdown strike to Daniel Bellinger. Exciting tight end Darren Waller had three catches on the drive for 30 yards and also had a drop for the only incompletion.
Backup Tyrod Taylor threw a 33-yard TD pass to big-play rookie receiver Jalin Hyatt, while Eric Gray scored on a 9-yard run for New York (1-1). The Giants rested star running back Saquon Barkley for the second straight week.
Young, who did little in his NFL debut last week against the Jets, showed flashes and put points on the board for the first time, taking the Panthers (0-2) on a 15-yard, 62-yard drive that Matthew Wright capped early in the second quarter with the first of his two field goals. Young played two series and was 3 of 6 for 35 yards. ___
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