ATLANTA — 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.
PHOTOS: Ridder leads impressive drive for Atlanta in his preseason debut, Falcons tie Bengals 13-13
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