The Bengals played pretty well on offense when the starters were in the game and then it went south from there.  Carson Palmer looked the best he has all pre-season last night as he completed 9 of 11 passes for 95 yards with 2 TD passes.  J.T. O’Sullivan looked better than usual last night as he completed 9 of 13 passes for 77 yards.  Jordan Palmer finished up the game by completing 7 of 12 passes for 116 yards with 1 INT (which was returned 20 yards by Bills’ CB Reggie Corner for a TD!).  Cedric Benson got his work in last night with 8 carries for 50 yards (6.3 ypc).  WR Quan Crosby caught 4 passes for 82 yards (20.5 avg), he returned 2 kickoffs for 60 yards (30.0 avg) and he also returned 1 punt for 4 yards as he was very busy last night.  Rookies (WR) Jordan Shipley (5 rec, 38 yards) and (TE) Jermaine Gresham (4 rec, 45 yards) pitched in for the Bengals in the passing game last night.  Chad Ocho Cinco caught 2 passes for 23 yards but he got into the end zone once.  The Bengals finished up with 119 yards rushing (5.0 ypc) and 276 yards passing in this game last night.

Rookie LB (4th round pick) Roddrick Muckelroy led the way for the Bengals on D in this game with 6 tackles.  LB Brandon Johnson, S Kyries Hebert and S Rico Murray pitched in last night with 5 tackles apiece.  The Bills finished up with 132 yards rushing (4.4 ypc) and 217 yards passing last night.  The Bengals are 2-2 on the pre-season after this loss.

The Bengals better be praying that Carson Palmer stays in one piece all year long because the backups are inspiring little confidence in the pre-season.  J.T. O’Sullivan is going to be the #2 QB for the Bengals in 2010 but that’s not a good thing.  In the first three pre-season games for the Bengals this year he has completed 17 of 35 passes (48.6%) for 217 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs (44.6 QB Rating).  Jordan Palmer (Carson’s younger brother) could see his roster spot in jeopardy if he doesn’t start playing better soon.  He has completed 12 of 26 passes (46.2%) this pre-season for 115 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs (39.7 QB Rating).  The Bengals are likely keeping tabs on rookie Tony Pike who played college ball with the Cincinnati Bearcats.  If he gets cut by the Panthers (a distinct possibility) the Bengals will likely try to claim him off waivers which would be bad news for Jordan Palmer.

The defense led the way to an impressive home win last night for the Bengals.  LB Landon Johnson led the way for the Bengals last night with 6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 sack.  Rookie DE (2nd round) Carlos Dunlap was also over the place last night with 4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 QB hit.  Fellow rookie DT (4th round) Geno Atkins put another solid game together last night wiht 4 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed and 2 QB hits.  CB Morgan Trent pitched in with 2 tackles, 3 passes defensed and 3 INTs.  The Eagles finished up with 125 yards rushing (5.4 ypc) and 145 yards passing last night.

The offense (especially the QBs) weren’t protecting the football too well for the Bengals last night.  Carson Palmer completed 15 of 23 passes for 169 yards with 2 INTs.  J.T. O’Sullivan was so-so completing 6 of 9 passes for 66 yards with 1 INT.  Jordan Palmer finished up the game at QB by completing 1 of 3 passes for 8 yards.  Cedric Peerman led the way on the ground last night for the Bengals with 47 yards rushing on 12 carries (3.9 ypc) with 2 TD carries.  Cedric Benson also got his work in with 10 carries for 30 yards (3.0 ypc) and 5 grabs for 29 yards (5.8 avg).  Bernard Scott pitched in with 2 carries for 13 yards (6.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  WR Terrell Owens (3 rec, 67 yards) and rookie TE Jermaine Gresham (3 rec, 34 yards) led the way for the Bengals in the passing game last night.  The Bengals finished up with 106 yards rushing (3.3 ypc) and 239 yards passing in this game.

The Bengals looked pretty damn good on offense last night as they were ballhogs.  They had possession of the ball for 38:41 last night.  Carson Palmer was razor sharp in this game as he completed 12 of 15 passes for 105 yards.  J.T. O’Sullivan didn’t look too good though as he completed 7 of 15 passes for 118 yards.  Jordan Palmer only completed 1 of 3 passes for 5 yards last night.  But he did carry the ball 2 times for 13 yards (6.5 ypc).  Bernard Scott was very effective both running the ball (8 car, 65 yards) and catching the ball out of the backfield (2 rec, 48 yards) last night.  James Johnson was solid last night too with 10 carries for 42 yards (4.2 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Cedric Peerman (8 car, 31 yards) and Cedric Benson (9 car, 30 yards, 1 TD run) both helped the Bengals dominate on the ground.  Rookie Jordan Shipley (5 rec, 50 yards) and Terrell Owens (4 rec, 23 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Bengals last night.  The Bengals finished up with 191 yards rushing (4.8 ypc) and 218 yards passing in this game.

The defense didn’t play that great against the Broncos’ passing game last night but they were tough as nails against the run.  CB David Jones led the way for the Bengals in this game with 4 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 1 INT (24-yard TD return).  Rookie DT Geno Atkins also had a solid game with 4 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1.5 sacks and 2 QB hits.  The Broncos finished up with only 36 yards rushing (2.4 ypc) and 251 passing yards in this game.

The Bengals looked decent on defense but awful last night offensively in the Hall of Fame Game.  Carson Palmer played the first two possessions for the Bengals and he completed 2 of 5 passes for 18 yards.  Both of his completions were to Terrell Owens.  J.T. O’Sullivan replaced Palmer in the game and he couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a pass.  He completed 4 of 11 passes for 33 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT.  Jordan Palmer (Carson’s bro) finished out the game by completing 10 of 20 passes for 102 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs.  His TD pass was a 1-yarder late in the game to TE Darius Hill (his only catch).  The younger Palmer also threw a pick six (6-yard INT return by Cowboys’ linebacker Brandon Sharpe).  Bernard Scott led the way on the ground for the Bengals last night with a whopping 19 yards on 7 carries (2.7 ypc).  Matt Jones was the Bengals’ leading receiver last night with 3 grabs for 42 yards (14.0 avg) as he looked pretty good.  The Bengals finished up with 43 yards rushing (2.5 ypc) and 136 yards passing as they only had the ball for 23:49 of the game.

The defense was on the field a long time but they didn’t give up any TDs.  DT Geno Atkins led the way for the Bengals as he seemed to be in the Cowboys’ backfield quite a bit.  He had 6 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit.  Linebacker Vincent Rey pitched in with six tackles last night.  Linebacker Michael Johnson was also very active for the Bengals in this contest as he had 3 tackles, 2 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and 2 QB hits.  The Cowboys finished up with 85 yards rushing (2.9 ypc) and 212 yards passing in this game.