Associated Press
Friasy’s preseason games …
ATLANTA ó Matt Ryan was a winner in his first preseason start, perhaps moving the rookie closer to being named the Falcons’ regular-season starter.
Ryan opened the second half with a touchdown pass to give Atlanta the lead in a 17-3 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Friday night.
Ryan, the third pick in the draft, completed 15 of 21 passes for 102 yards with a 1-yard scoring pass to another rookie, Harry Douglas, and no interceptions. He said he had “a lot of fun.”
“I thought I did some good things and I thought I made some mistakes,” Ryan said.
Ryan outplayed Tennessee starter Vince Young, the No. 3 pick in 2006. Young was 9-of-18 passing for 102 yards and an interception.
Cowboys 23, Texans 22
IRVING, Texas ó Take away a couple of bad throws by Tony Romo, and the Dallas Cowboys finally resembled the team that everybody is expecting to see this season.
At least when Romo and Terrell Owens played in the first half.
Romo made up for overthrowing T.O. on a certain touchdown and later getting intercepted in the end zone, completing 15 of 19 passes for 166 yards and a TD in the Cowboys’ 23-22 victory over the Houston Texans on Friday night.
Things went so good against the Texans that Romo and Owens, who had four catches for 43 yards, didn’t play after halftime.
Eagles 27, Patriots 17
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. ó The New England Patriots were missing a lot more than Tom Brady, namely tackles, open receivers and a chance to leave their preseason problems behind.
Brady has yet to play in an exhibition game while nursing an injured right foot. The Patriots have played poorly in all three of them, the latest Friday night’s 27-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles returned two kicks for touchdowns in the last 1:35 of the first half and Donovan McNabb led three long drives.