The Harrington Family Foundation

It was like watching a child peering over the edge of a swimming pool, trying to decide whether to stick in his toe in the water to gauge the temperature or to just jump in.

The Falcons began life without Michael Vick Friday with uncertainty being the only certainty. Even after his replacement Joey Harrington, had completed two unsuccessful offensive series in Atlanta's preseason 31-16 loss to the New York Jets on a wet, chilly night at sparsely occupied Giants Stadium.

Then, it happened. Actually, Harrington made it happen.

The player who could be more responsible for the Falcons' success, or lack thereof, completed four passes for 66 yards — including a 22-yard third-down hookup with Joe Horn and a 37-yard third-down connection with Dwayne Blakley — to lead Atlanta to its first score.

When tailback Jerious Norwood (8 carries, 29 yards) capped the 82-yard drive with a 10-yard run behind blocks by center Todd McClure and guards Justin Blalock and Kynan Forney, Harrington led the celebration.

"This was great work for us," Harrington said at halftime. "We showed where we are with this offense. We had the ability to make big plays but there are some details we have to take care of. It was encouraging but there is more we can work on."

There wasn't a player on the field who would accept the notion that the drive was meaningless. Preseason or not, this was a step. It was a step, for Harrington, teammates and coaches who've tried to earn a living while dealing with the negativity generated by Vick's federal indictment on dogfighting charges.

"I think our offensive execution went pretty well," coach Bobby Petrino said at halftime in a release by the team. "We moved the ball well on the touchdown drive. I think Joey did a nice job of running the offense and moving the ball down the field."

There's a lot more to be seen of Harrington before he sheds his reputation as in ineffective player, as was the case in Detroit and Miami. He has shown flashes of being a legitimate NFL starter but he's never been consistent enough to convince anybody he's arrived.

He finished 6-of-9 for 88 yards and a passer rating of 98.4 before being relieved by Chris Redman, who played the second and part of the third quarter and led the Falcons to two Billy Cundiff field-goals. D.J. Shockley came in at quarterback with just less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter and led a fourth-quarter drive that ended with Cundiff making his third field goal that left Atlanta trailing 28-16.

Four different receivers, including Norwood, caught passes from Harrington, who played a total of 17 snaps and the entire first quarter. Two of his incompletions came on overthrown balls to Roddy White on deep passes. The other was thrown behind Michael Jenkins.

Though Petrino, who called the plays, didn't dig deep into his playbook, he wasn't bashful about throwing the ball or exposing several different formations. There were offset-I and three- and four-wide receiver looks as well as plenty of motion with tights ends and wide receivers.

Harrington threw three times on Atlanta's first four plays. It was a vast change from the recent past, when passes were typically thrown only when needed.

"Joey was on point," said Horn, whose lone catch came on the touchdown drive. "He was on top of his game and that impressed me. He knew the defenses and he had great timing with the receivers."

Fullback Ovie Mughelli, the Falcons' biggest free-agent acquisition, didn't get a carry, as Petrino had hoped. Rookie Jason Snelling got his chances to prove he might be capable of emerging as the third running back, amassing 25 yards on six carries.

The biggest area of concern for the Falcons could be special teams. Although Cundiff was solid, the kickoff coverage teams were shaky. Immediately after Norwood's touchdown, New York's Leon Washington returned the kickoff 86 yards to give the Jets the ball on the Falcons' 8. The Jets scored a touchdown three plays later. Washington had a 28-yard return following Cundiff's second field goal.