By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Saturday's game

The first-team offense shook off some rust Saturday night, but rookie Carson Palmer shined brightly in the Bengals' 23-10 preseason victory against the Detroit Lions.

Palmer threw two touchdown passes on the first two possessions of the second half, and was 7-for-7 passing for 97 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating of 158.3 was perfect.

Palmer, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft, relieved starter Jon Kitna at the end of the first half and, after the game, tried to douse talk of a quarterback controversy.

Asked how he responds to fans clamoring for him to start, Palmer said, "I'm definitely not ready to do the things Jon can do and not ready to make the plays he makes. It's going to be asked, and it's going to be tough on Jon, but I'm not worried about it because Jon is the exact kind of guy you want to have in front of you when you're going through this situation."

Kitna led the first-team offense to three field goals in four possessions to open the game.

Coach Marvin Lewis won in his first game at Paul Brown Stadium to even the Bengals' preseason record this season at 1-1.

"We'll wait until Sept. 7 to see who's the best option in that order following Jon," he said of the quarterback situation.

Asked after the victory if Kitna is the starting quarterback, Lewis said, "There is no question Jon is the No. 1 quarterback."

And he will be for the opener against Denver? "We're still working toward Sept. 7. I can't foresee the future. I would imagine Jon Kitna would be out quarterback Sept. 7, unless he gets injured."

Palmer made his Cincinnati debut on the last play of the first half before a crowd of 39,956 at Paul Brown Stadium.

Palmer led the Bengals on a 14-play, 77-yard touchdown drive to open the second half. He was 5-for-5 passing for 45 yards on the drive and tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to rookie fullback Jeremi Johnson on a fourth-and-2 play.

The TD gave the Bengals a 16-3 lead with 7:14 remaining in the third quarter.

On his next possession, Palmer threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

In two preseason games, Palmer is 19-for-29 passing for 237 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions and a 96.5 rating.

The Bengals led 9-3 at halftime Saturday. Neil Rackers made all three of his field goal attempts - from 44, 31 and 21 yards.

Rackers had two touchbacks on kickoffs in the first half, leading the special teams to a stronger performance than it had last week against the Jets.

Houshmandzadeh set up the first Bengals score with a 39-yard punt return to the Lions 33.

The Bengals moved to the 16 on a 17-yard Kitna pass to Chad Johnson. But on a third-and-seven play from the 13, Kitna was penalized 13 yards for intentional grounding.

On the field goal try, holder Nick Harris - who dropped two snaps in the rain last week against the Jets - pulled down a high snap, and Rackers' kick was good.

Meanwhile, the Bengals defense stuffed the Lions - forcing three punts and stopping a fourth-down run on Detroit's first four possessions. The Lions had to punt five times and had just 78 rushing yards.

Rackers' second field goal capped an 11-play, 52-yard drive, highlighted by a 14-yard Kitna scramble and a 17-yard dump pass to fullback Chris Edmonds.

Rackers capped a third consecutive scoring drive with a 21-yard field goal.

Kitna took 31 snaps and led the offense to 143 yards. He was 10-for-15 passing for 90 yards.

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

Bengals-Lions statistics

Bengals (1-1-0)

PASSING

	CP-AT	YDS	TD	INT
C. Palmer	7-7	97	2	0
J. Kitna	10-15	90	0	0
S. Matthews	8-11	67	0	0

RUSHING

	ATT	YDS	TD	LG
R. Johnson	14	34	0	7
B. Bennett	6	26	0	21
R. Jackson	7	20	0	8
J. Kitna	2	11	0	14
C. Dillon	2	4	0	3
C. Palmer	1	-2	0	-2

RECEIVING

	REC	YDS	TD	LG
T. Houshmandzadeh	4	51	1	30
D. Farmer	2	44	0	29
C. Johnson	3	31	0	17
C. Edmonds	2	27	0	17
R. Johnson	4	27	0	11
T. Stewart	1	22	0	22
S. Brewer	2	18	0	12
K. Washington	2	12	0	7
R. Jackson	1	8	0	8
L. Hamilton	1	5	0	5
R. Kelly	1	4	0	4
C. Dillon	1	3	0	3

FUMBLES

	FUM	LOST	REC	YDS
R. Johnson	1	1	0	0

KICKING

	FG	LG	XP	PTS
N. Rackers	3/3	0	2/2	11

PUNTING

	NO	AVG	I20	LG
T. Dorsch	1	58.0	1	58
N. Harris	1	44.0	0	44

KICKOFF RETURNS

	NO	AVG	TD	LG
R. Jackson	1	21.0	0	0
R. Johnson	1	13.0	0	0

PUNT RETURNS

	NO	AVG	TD	LG
T. Houshmandzadeh	3	16.3	0	39

DEFENSE

	T-A	SCK	INT	FF
K. Abdullah	5-2	0.0	0	0
R. Beckett	2-0	0.0	0	0
S. Foley	2-0	0.0	0	0
T. James	2-1	0.0	0	0
K. Kaesviharn	2-0	0.0	0	0
R. Myles	2-2	0.0	0	0
B. Simmons	2-3	0.0	0	0
A. Sulfsted	2-0	0.0	0	0
J. Armour	1-1	0.0	0	0
J. Blair	1-0	1.0	0	0
O. Gibson	1-0	0.0	0	0
K. Hardy	1-4	0.0	0	0
D. Levels	1-0	0.0	0	0
M. Manuel	1-1	0.0	0	0
E. Patterson	1-0	0.0	0	0
M. Roman	1-2	0.0	0	0
A. Ross	1-2	0.0	0	0
J. Smith	1-0	0.0	0	0
A. Spearman	1-0	0.0	0	0
L. Thompson	1-0	0.0	0	0

Lions (1-1-0)

PASSING

	CP-AT	YDS	TD	INT
T. Detmer	11-13	96	0	0
M. McMahon	9-18	94	1	0
J. Harrington	5-11	27	0	0

RUSHING

	ATT	YDS	TD	LG
J. Stewart	9	33	0	13
M. McMahon	2	17	0	10
L. Staley	5	15	0	7
A. Denson	1	7	0	7
T. Detmer	1	5	0	5
R. Cooper	1	1	0	1

RECEIVING

	REC	YDS	TD	LG
S. Vines	2	40	0	21
A. Denson	7	35	0	12
S. Jefferson	2	22	0	15
S. Trejo	1	21	1	21
C. Rogers	2	18	0	12
B. Schroeder	1	17	0	17
B. Drumm	1	11	0	11
C. Fitzsimmons	1	11	0	11
L. Staley	1	11	0	11
R. Holts	1	7	0	7
T. Anglin	1	6	0	6
C. Schlesinger	2	6	0	4
M. Murphy	1	5	0	5
S. Anderson	1	4	0	4
D. Kircus	1	3	0	3

FUMBLES

	FUM	LOST	REC	YDS
J. Gooch	0	0	1	0

KICKING

	FG	LG	XP	PTS
J. Hanson	1/1	40	1/1	4

PUNTING

	NO	AVG	I20	LG
J. Jett	5	43.6	0	54

KICKOFF RETURNS

	NO	AVG	TD	LG
A. Denson	2	25.5	0	29
D. Kircus	2	22.0	0	24

PUNT RETURNS

	NO	AVG	TD	LG
A. Denson	2	10.0	0	17

DEFENSE

	T-A	SCK	INT	FF
D. Curry	6-2	0.0	0	1
C. Cash	5-0	0.0	0	0
J. Gooch	5-1	0.0	0	0
T. Holt	5-0	0.0	0	0
B. Green	3-3	0.0	0	0
J. Powell	3-1	0.0	0	0
B. Bailey	2-0	0.0	0	0
A. Goodman	2-0	0.0	0	0
K. Philpot	2-1	0.0	0	0
B. Walker	2-4	0.0	0	0
B. Walker	2-4	1.0	0	0
B. Adams	1-1	0.0	0	0
D. Bly	1-0	0.0	0	0
T. Golliday	1-0	0.0	0	0
S. Rogers	1-2	0.0	0	0
F. Romero	1-0	0.0	0	0
J. Taylor	1-0	0.0	0	0

Team statistics

	Det.	Cin.
1st Downs	18	22
Rushing	6	5
Passing	10	16
Penalty	2	1
3rd-Down Conversions	4-14	9-15
4th-Down Conversions	2-3	1-1
Punts-Average	5-43.6	2-51.0
Return Yards	115	126
Punts-Returns	2-20	5-70
Kickoffs-Returns	4-95	3-56
Int.-Returns	0-0	0-0
Penalties-Yards	4-38	5-58
Fumbles-Lost	0-0	1-1
Time Of Pos.	24:24	35:36
Total Net Yards	288	354
Total Plays	62	68
Average Gain	4.6	5.2
Net Yards Rushing	78	101
Rushes	19	34
Avg. Per Rush	4.1	3.0
Net Yards Passing	210	253
Comp.-Att.	25-42	25-33
Yards Per Pass	4.9	7.4
Sacked-Yards Lost	1-7	1-1
Touchdowns	1	2
Rushing	0	0
Passing	1	2
Field Goals	1-1	3-3
Red Zone Efficiency	0-0-0%	1-5-20%

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