Ryan gets win as Falcons top Tennessee

One start, one win for Matt Ryan.

Ryan, making his first preseason start, opened the second half with a touchdown pass to give Atlanta the lead and the Falcons beat the Tennessee Titans 17-3 Friday in Atlanta.

Ryan, the third pick in the draft out of Boston College, continued his bid to start. He completed 15 of 21 passes for 102 yards with no interceptions.

Ryan outplayed Tennessee starter Vince Young, the No. 3 pick in 2006. Young was 9 of 18 passing for 102 yards and an interception.

Eagles 27, Patriots 17: At Foxborough Mass., New England was missing a lot more than Tom Brady, namely tackles, open receivers and a chance to leave its preseason problems behind.

Philadelphia returned two kicks for touchdowns in the last 1:35 of the first half, Donovan McNabb led three long drives, and backup Kevin Kolb directed a 90-yard march to David Akers’ second field goal on their opening series of the third quarter.

Cowboys 23, Texans 22: At Irving, Texas, Tony Romo made up for overthrowing Terrell Owens and later getting intercepted in the end zone by completing 15 of 19 passes for 166 yards and a TD in Dallas’ victory over Houston.

•Texans receiver Harry Williams was taken off the field on a stretcher and hospitalized after being hit in the head during a collision with a teammate.

Williams was expected to have surgery this weekend to fuse two vertebrae.

“He’s got movement throughout his body,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said.

Packers 27, Broncos 24: At Denver, Aaron Rodgers bounced back from a bad game to complete 18 of 22 passes for 193 yards and a touchdown in Green Bay’s win over the Broncos.

Rodgers led Green Bay (1-2) to scores on four of his five possessions.