NFL: Tagovailoa’s Atlanta debut lasts two flat drives

Nineteen yards

Tua Tagovailoa’s first night as an Atlanta Falcon lasted two drives and 19 yards. He threw for 22. He also fumbled a snap. Denver won 27-7 in Atlanta on Friday, and the scoreline was the least of the home side’s problems.

Preseason numbers rarely mean much. This set does, because of the question it was meant to answer. Tagovailoa landed in Atlanta this summer after Miami moved on from him, and the Falcons brought him in to push Michael Penix Jr. for the starting job. Penix is still working his way back from knee surgery, which left the field to Tagovailoa on Friday. He did nothing with it.

Two possessions, 19 total yards, one botched exchange under center. Atlanta finished the night with seven points.

$0.99

7-day trial

Full Pro access.
Try it for $0.99.

Picks · Injury reports · Trends · Tools · No ads — no commitment

Let’s do it

Stidham runs Denver’s night

Denver rested Bo Nix and still controlled the game. Jarrett Stidham threw for 131 yards and a touchdown, which is close to what the Broncos have come to expect from him. Stidham started last season’s AFC Championship game with Nix injured, and the gap between Denver’s first and second quarterback keeps looking narrower than most rosters can manage.

Courtland Sutton caught three passes for 60 yards, including a 40-yard grab that put Denver on the Atlanta 1-yard line on the opening drive. Adam Prentice scored on the next snap. Seven points, a handful of plays into the first live football of the summer.

Atlanta’s quarterback question stays open

Penix’s timeline is the variable that decides how much of this matters. If he is ready for Week 1, Friday changes little beyond the mood inside the building. If he is not, Atlanta heads into September with a quarterback who has just produced 19 yards against a defense holding most of its calls back.

Tagovailoa has three more preseason weeks to make the night irrelevant. Miami spent the same evening watching Malik Willis, the man who replaced him, march its first-team offense 93 yards for a touchdown on his only drive.

Discover the rest of our NFL news on MathODDS!

MathODDS App

Your picks,
in your pocket.

Predictions · Trends · Tools · Injury reports
Real-time notifications & alerts

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

MathODDS

→

★★★★★