The Falcons got their starters on the field to start the game, and they put together a nice drive on offense stalled by penalties and a tipped interception, followed by a defensive drive mixing penalties with nice stops that concluded with great coverage in the end zone. It was 0-0 by the time the reserves came on, but we saw evidence of competence on both sides of the ball, and that’s perfectly fine for the second preseason game.
Then the reserves came on, and once again, they won their own game-within-a-game. A defense that occasionally frustrated still held the Bengals to a pair of field goals, while the offense mustered ten points behind Taylor Heinicke’s arm, much improved work from the receiving corps, and some nice runs from Godwin Igwebuike and Carlos Washington.