The goal with any preseason game is—or at least ought to be—making it to the end healthy and with plenty to work on. By those criteria, the Falcons had a successful Friday night against the Cincinnati Bengals, emerging with a tie, plenty of solid moments and performances to build on, and some clear areas of focus before the season begins.
Atlanta once again took part in a low-scoring affair against a quality squad, but this time the defensive heroics weren’t quite so heroic. The Falcons held the Bengals to 13 points but were far less sharp as a pass defense than they were against Miami, allowing a few wince-worthy scrambles, failing to close out some sack opportunities, and watching receivers come down with fairly wide open catches.