Freddie Falcon
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- Mar 16, 2019
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The first football game of the 2019 NFL calendar wasn’t a kind one for the quarterbacks involved in Thursday night’s Hall of Fame Game.
Neither Joe Flacco or Matt Ryan played for their respective teams. Matt Schaub had a dreadful night for the Atlanta Falcons, and Kevin Hogan, Drew Lock and Brett Rypien barely eclipsed 100 yards combined passing for the Denver Broncos.
Kurt Benkert had the most promising showing of any quarterback that played Thursday night and he had to leave the game in the fourth quarter due to an injured toe.
The upside is both teams will have four more preseason games to get things clicking before wins and losses start to matter in September.
Schaub was particularly dreadful for Atlanta. He completed just 4 of 14 passes for 10 yards and was intercepted by Trey Johnson in the fourth quarter after replacing an injured Benkert. Schaub’s passer rating for the night was a paltry 9.8.
Before departing, Benkert completed 19 of 34 passes for 185 yards and tossed a touchdown to Brian Hill to end the first half.
If Schaub’s efforts the rest of the preseason mirror that of his opening performance in Canton, the Falcons may need to consider a different backup option headed into 2019.
Meanwhile, Denver’s trio wasn’t particularly glowing either. Kevin Hogan completed 5 of 8 passes for 37 yards after getting the starting nod with Flacco held out. Lock, the rookie second-round pick out of Missouri, completed 7 of 11 passes but for just 34 yards and Brett Rypien went 5 of 10 for 41 yards and a jump ball touchdown pass to Juwaan Winfree that gave the Broncos the 14-10 victory.
Broncos G.M. John Elway discussed Lock’s first outing with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth on the broadcast.
“I think that Drew is a very talented young guy that we think has got a bright future ahead,” Elway said. “I think that he saw some different things that he wasn’t expecting, saw a little bit more man coverage than he was planning on seeing. Saw a little pressure and wasn’t really ready about it. But excited about Drew. I think he’s in a good situation to be able to learn from Joe.
“I can still remember my first start in preseason. It’s a big deal. It’s a big jump and I’m sure he was feeling the nerves tonight.
The group went 17 of 29 for just 112 yards and Rypien’s touchdown combined.
Khalfani Muhammad had 74 yards on 11 touches as the most productive offensive piece for the Broncos on Thursday night. Hill rushed for 57 yards on 11 carries and added the receiving touchdown from Benkert to lead Atlanta.