Takeaways: Falcons passing offense excels in loss to Jets

The Atlanta Falcons opted to play their starters during Monday night’s preseason game against the New York Jets and it didn’t take long for TE Kyle Pitts to take advantage of the Jets’ backups.

Pitts caught a 52-yard bomb from QB Marcus Mariota on the team’s first offensive play. Rookie QB Desmond Ridder was extremely sharp for the second week in a row, and second-year LB Ade Ogundeji had a nice showing on defense.

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Atlanta’s early lead disappeared in the second half, and New York came back to win 24-16. Here are five takeaways from Monday’s prime-time preseason matchup.

(AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Mariota has had an encouraging first two games as the Falcons’ starting quarterback. The former No. 2 pick was extremely efficient, completing six of 10 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown. Mariota made mostly good reads, showed impressive arm strength, and used his mobility to buy time in the pocket to find holes in the Jets defense.

Obviously, this is preseason and Mariota was going against New York’s second-team defense. After two games, Mariota has completed eight of 12 pass attempts for 168 passing yards, one touchdown and a passer rating of 115.4. He also has a 10-yard rushing touchdown.

Rookie Desmond Ridder was stellar again, completing 10 of 13 passes for 143 yards. Feleipe Franks didn’t fare as well, throwing for eight yards on six passing attempts.

Pitts needed one play to show Falcons fans the kind of difference-maker he’s going to be this season. If the ball was thrown a little deeper by Mariota, Pitts has an easy touchdown but it was a great play, nonetheless. Pitts topped 1,000 receiving yards as a rookie with defenses keying in on him. If Drake London can get healthy, Pitts should be able to take his game to the next level in 2022, which is pretty frightening.

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Bernhardt led the team in receiving yards, hauling in three catches for 67 yards (22.3 YPC). Rookie QB Desmond Ridder seems to have developed good chemistry with the former lacrosse star. Can Bernhardt make the 53-man roster? Absolutely, but the undrafted free agent still has more work to do. If he can keep making plays like the one below, Bernhardt has a real shot.

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Caleb Huntley led all non-quartberbacks in rushing yards on Monday, but it wasn’t a great performance by any of the team’s running backs. Huntley had 34 yards on 3.0 yards per carry. Rookie Tyler Allgeier had six carries for just 17 yards. Qadree Ollison had four carries for 14 yards, and Damien Williams had two carries for five yards. Quarterback Feleipe Franks led the team with 45 rushing yards.

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It was a mixed bag from the Falcons defense on Monday. The starters looked good, especially second-year OLB Ade Ogundeji. The defensive back competition continues to intensify. Cornerback Corey Ballentine had a beautiful pass breakup but just barely failed to bring in what would have been a highlight-reel interception. Teez Tabor had another nice game, coming away with the game’s only interception. Rookie LB Troy Andersen made his NFL debut, finishing with two tackles and a QB hit.