EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — So his first few passes didn't zing. So he dumped one off here and threw another short one there.

Once he got warmed up, New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington made everything look easy. Playing in his first game since offseason surgery on his right shoulder, Pennington went 9 of 10 for 86 yards and a touchdown, helping the Jets beat the Vikings, 28-21, in a preseason game last night.

Daunte Culpepper looked just as good for the Vikings, going 11 of 13 for 146 yards while leading them on one scoring drive. Minnesota staged a second-half rally with two scores from their third and fourth stringers, tying the game at 21 before Cedric Houston scored the game-winner on a 10-yard TD run with 5:52 remaining.

But the show stopper was Pennington's 20-yard score to Laveranues Coles in the second quarter, a beautiful pass down the middle that hit Coles in stride.

"It felt like old times again," said Pennington, who last played in a playoff loss to Pittsburgh in January.

TITANS 24, FALCONS 21

ATLANTA — Atlanta showed off its big-play capability. Tennessee won the battle of the backups.

Rookie DeAndra Cobb scored on a 101-yard kickoff return and T.J. Duckett had a 72-yard TD run, but Shane Boyd threw a late TD pass to fellow rookie O.J. Small that gave the Titans a win.

Michael Vick played nearly the entire first half for the Falcons, looking especially good on the opening possession. He hooked up with fullback Justin Griffith on a 23-yard pass, then broke off a 21-yard run when no one was open. After Warrick Dunn ran for 18 yards, Vick lobbed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brian Finneran.

Boyd, hoping to land a spot as the Titans' third quarterback, flipped a pass to Small, who fought off rookie cornerback Jonte Buhl to make the catch with 1:28 remaining.

Steve McNair was sharp for the Titans (1-1), completing 14 of 19 passes for 137 yards, including a TD pass to Chris Brown.

BENGALS 24, REDSKINS 17

LANDOVER, Md. — The good news for Cincinnati's Carson Palmer and Washington's Patrick Ramsey is they have three more weeks to get ready for the regular season. From the look of things last night, both need all the time they can get.

The young quarterbacks each had one nice throw for a touchdown but mostly struggled for the second straight week.

Ramsey threw two interceptions. Palmer threw one, and they combined to complete just four of their first 16 passes in Cincinnati's victory over Washington.

Palmer started 2 for 9 with an interception against the first-string Redskins defense before putting together two scoring drives against Washington's backups. Palmer finished 12 of 24 for 152 yards and gave way in the second half to Jon Kitna.

Ramsey finished 9 of 18 for 190 yards and was replaced by Mark Brunell after halftime. Brunell was 10 of 16 for 122 yards.