ATLANTA — Logan Woodside and Matt Barkley each threw touchdown passes to open Tennessee’s backup quarterback competition and the Titans beat the Atlanta Falcons 23-3 on Friday night in the preseason opener for both teams.
The Titans held Atlanta to 139 yards and six first downs in the debut for Falcons coach Arthur Smith, Tennessee’s former offensive coordinator.
Woodside started and threw a 13-yard scoring pass to Cameron Batson in the second quarter. Woodside completed 10 of 15 passes for 84 yards.
Barkley had third-down completions of 14 and 15 yards to Mason Kinsey on a field goal drive early in the second half. Barkley’s 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Miller Forristall in the fourth quarter completed the scoring.
Barkley completed 5 of 8 passes for 54 yards. Neither quarterback threw an interception, though Woodside was sacked three times.
The Titans held out starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill, running back Derrick Henry and wide receivers Julio Jones and A.J. Brown.
Atlanta’s AJ McCarron, the favorite to open the season as Matt Ryan’s backup, completed 5 of 12 passes for only 36 yards with an interception.
BILLS 16, LIONS 14
DETROIT — Jake Fromm threw a 42-yard, fourth-down pass to rookie Marquez Stevenson to set up Tyler Bass’ 44-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in Buffalo’s victory over Detroit.
Davis Webb threw a 6-yard, tiebreaking touchdown pass to Devin Singletary late in the second quarter. Webb is vying with Fromm to be Buffalo’s third-string quarterback.
Both players had an extended opportunity to play with Josh Allen sitting out the preseason opener and Mitchell Trubisky playing just two possessions.
Webb was 11 of 16 for 90 yards and ran twice for 26 yards. Fromm entered in the fourth quarter and finished 8 of 13 for 65 yards.
Jared Goff got off to a rough start in his and coach Dan Campbell’s debut with the Lions, nearly throwing an interception on his first snap and getting sacked to end the game-opening drive with a thud. Goff finished 7 of 9 for 56 yards.
For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL
