Bengals hold off Falcons 24-19

ATLANTA (AP) — Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and the Falcons’ Matt Ryan each directed a pair of scoring drives before Cincinnati’s reserves held on for a 24-19 preseason victory over Atlanta on Thursday night.

In a matchup of teams that lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs last season, Cincinnati (No. 14 in the AP Pro32) had the deeper roster.

The second- and third-string players for Atlanta (No. 13) struggled in the second half for the second straight week.

Ryan, who completed his first 11 attempts, finished 18 of 21 for 174 yards and one touchdown, a 2-yard screen to reserve fullback Lousaka Polite in the second quarter.

Spreading out the offense and connecting with nine different receivers, Ryan completed passes of at least 20 yards to Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez, Julio Jones and Michael Palmer.

Dalton was 8 of 14 for 125 yards and one TD, a 50-yard pass that star receiver A.J. Green caught while running past cornerback Asante Samuel down the right sideline.

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