ATLANTA, 21 August 2005 — The Atlanta Falcons showed off their big-play capability. Tennessee won the battle of the backups.
Rookie DeAndra Cobb scored on a 101-yard kickoff return and T.J. Duckett had a 72-yard touchdown run, but Shane Boyd threw a late touchdown pass to fellow rookie O.J. Small that gave the Titans a 24-21 victory Friday night.
Michael Vick played nearly the entire first half for the Falcons, looking especially good on the opening possession. He hooked up with fullback Justin Griffith on a 23-yard pass, then broke off a 21-yard run when no one was open. After Warrick Dunn ran for 18 yards, Vick lobbed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brian Finneran.
With third — and fourth-stringers on the field, the Falcons (2-1) made one goal-line stand in the final period but couldn’t stop the Titans on fourth-and-goal from the 4.
Boyd, hoping to land a spot as the Titans’ third quarterback, flipped a pass to Small, who fought off rookie cornerback Jonte Buhl to make the catch with 1:28 remaining.
Cobb, a sixth-round pick from Michigan State, took a major step toward making the Falcons with his electrifying return in the first quarter. He took the kickoff, sent three players flying with a cutback at the Falcons 30 and found a huge gap on the left side.
Steve McNair was sharp for the Titans (1-1), though he was facing a Falcons defense that was missing five injured starters. The Tennessee quarterback completed 14-of-19 passes for 137 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown to Chris Brown.
Brown, who sat out the Titans’ first preseason game, also rushed for 45 yards on 10 carries.€
Bengals 24, Redskins 17
In Landover, Maryland, the good news for Carson Palmer and Patrick Ramsey is that they have three more weeks to get ready for the regular season. From the look of things, both need all the time they can get.
Ramsey threw two interceptions. Palmer threw one, and they combined to complete just four of their first 16 passes in the Cincinnati Bengals’ 24-17 victory over the Washington Redskins.
Palmer started 2-for-9 with an interception against the first-string Redskins defense before putting together two scoring drives against Washington’s backups. He hit Kelley Washington on the run for a 45-yard touchdown pass against rookie first-round draft pick Carlos Rogers, one play after T.J. Houshmandzadeh had Rogers beat on a similar play but dropped the ball.
Palmer ended his night with a shovel pass to Chris Perry, who ran 13 yards for a touchdown to help give the Bengals a 14-10 lead at halftime.
Palmer finished 12-for-24 for 152 yards and gave way in the second half to Jon Kitna, who hit Kevin Walter for a 22-yard touchdown in the third quarter. In two exhibition games, Palmer is 16-for-35 for 189 yards and two interceptions. Ramsey’s first three drives went nowhere, but Rogers’ interception and 30-yard return gave Washington the ball at Cincinnati’s 25. On the next play, Ramsey found James Thrash over the middle in the back of the end zone for the score.
Ramsey finished 9-for-18 for 190 yards and was replaced by Mark Brunell after halftime. Ramsey is 17-for-30 for 267 yards and three interceptions over two games.€
Jets 28, Vikings 21
So his first few passes didn’t zing. So he dumped one off here and threw another short one there.
Once he got warmed up, Jets quarterback Chad Pennington made everything look easy. Playing in his first game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, since offseason surgery on his right shoulder, Pennington went 9-of-10 for 86 yards and a touchdown. Daunte Culpepper looked just as good for the Vikings (1-1), going 11-of-13 for 146 yards while leading them on one scoring drive. Minnesota staged a second-half rally with two scores from their third and fourth stringers, tying the game at 21 before Cedric Houston scored the game-winner on a 10-yard TD run with 5:52 remaining.
But the show stopper was Pennington’s 20-yard score to Laveranues Coles in the second quarter, a beautiful pass down the middle that hit Coles in stride.
There was a moment in the first half that must have given New York (2-0) pause: Pennington was forced to scramble on third-and-1 for no gain. Pennington hurt his shoulder last year following a scramble in Buffalo.
The Vikings went up first when Moe Williams scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. Pennington had an answer. He ended a drive with the 20-yard score to Coles, who finished with six catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. That was the final play of the game for Pennington.
Minnesota kept making mistakes. Michael Bennett was stripped by Sione Pouha, and Joey Evans recovered. Jay Fiedler needed two plays to put the Jets up 14-7, throwing an 18-yard touchdown pass to Wayne Chrebet.
The Jets converted another turnover into a score in the third quarter, when Daryl Jones fumbled a punt from Australian kicker Ben Graham. Jerricho Cotchery recovered, and Fiedler scored on a 1-yard run for a 21-7 lead.
