By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer

A pair of first overall draft picks matched up early Friday night at Paul Brown Stadium, and both Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer looked the part.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Friday's game

But it was Bengals rookie seventh-round draft pick Casey Bramlet who led two second-half scoring drives, which ended in two of Shayne Graham's three second-half field goals, and the Bengals came away 16-13 winners. The Bengals end the preseason with a 2-2 record.

Bramlet was 5-for-6 passing for 81 yards.

The Bengals lost three turnovers in the first half and trailed 13-7.

"It was disappointing," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said of the halftime result. "Too many pre-snap fouls, and obviously we hurt ourselves with (three) turnovers. That's not the way we want to look."

Manning, the Indianapolis quarterback and first overall choice in 1998, made a brief but efficient regular-season tuneup. Manning, the reigning co-NFL MVP, played five snaps. He was 3-for-4 passing for 56 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Reggie Wayne.

Wayne beat Bengals cornerback Tory James down the left sideline.

Palmer, the Bengals' quarterback and first pick in 2003, was 10-for-14 passing for 106 yards and one touchdown. He played three series in his last rehearsal before the opener.

In four preseason appearances, Palmer was 37-for-67 passing for 530 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.

"Preseason is preseason," Palmer said. "You want to get tuned up as best you can, but I'm not sure the numbers mean a whole lot. ... We did move the ball well tonight. The line did a great job. I don't think I was touched once."

On the first play of the second quarter, Palmer threw seven yards to fullback James Lynch to cut the Indianapolis lead to 10-7.

Palmer almost had another touchdown pass on the previous possession. On a first down from the Colts 11, Palmer threw a screen to Rudi Johnson, who dove into the end zone but fumbled before crossing the goal line.

Indianapolis linebacker David Thornton returned the fumble 77 yards to the Bengals 23-yard line, where wide receiver Chad Johnson caught him from behind.

The Bengals defense held the Colts to minus-1 yard, forcing a Mike Vanderjagt field goal from 42 yards. He late was good from 21 yards but missed wide left from the 46-yard line.

With 10 minutes yet to play in the second quarter, few, if any, starters were left in the game.

The Bengals defense looked like the future. On the field for most of the second quarter were rookie linebackers Caleb Miller, Landon Johnson and Larry Stevens, rookie defensive backs Madieu Williams and Keiwan Ratliff and first-year defensive tackle Langston Moore.

Landon Johnson sacked Cory Sauter. The Bengals committed three turnovers in the first half but had no takeaways. Besides Rudi Johnson's goal-line fumble, backup quarterback Jon Kitna threw an interception to linebacker Rob Morris after his arm was hit in the pocket.

Late in the first half Kitna fumbled when sacked by end Josh Thomas. Defensive lineman Keith Wright recovered.

Kitna left the game in the third quarter. He was 10-for-15 passing for 65 yards and the one interception. Kitna played almost exclusively in the preseason with second- and third-string players.

Several Bengals players returned from injuries to make their first preseason appearances. Wide receiver Peter Warrick, tight end Reggie Kelly and fullback Jeremi Johnson all had receptions in the first half.

Warrick had five receptions for 32 yards in the first half.

Graham's three field goals, from 47, 23 and 29 yards, made him perfect on seven attempts in the preseason.

Through the third quarter, rookie running back Chris Perry had carried 17 times for 65 rushing yards. But he left the game with a hamstring injury and did not return.

---

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

Indianapolis	10	3	0	0	-	13
Cincinnati	0	7	6	3	-	16

First Quarter

Ind-Wayne 38 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick), 12:48.

Ind-FG Vanderjagt 42, 1:25.

Second Quarter

Cin-Lynch 7 pass from Palmer (Graham kick), 14:54.

Ind-FG Vanderjagt 21, 6:21.

Third Quarter

Cin-FG Graham 47, 11:05.

Cin-FG Graham 22, 2:11.

Fourth Quarter

Cin-FG Graham 29, 6:26.

A-53,567.

	Ind	Cin
First downs	12	20
Total Net Yards	216	385
Rushes-yards	16-8	33-135
Passing	208	250
Punt Returns	2-17	3-25
Kickoff Returns	5-106	4-86
Interceptions Ret.	1-6	1-16
Comp-Att-Int	23-37-1	25-35-1
Sacked-Yards Lost	3-17	1-2
Punts	5-50.2	4-43.2
Fumbles-Lost	0-0	4-2
Penalties-Yards	5-41	9-85
Time of Possession	25:51	34:09

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Indianapolis, Carthon 9-10, Sauter 2-1, C.Davis 5-(minus 3). Cincinnati, Perry 17-65, R.Johnson 5-51, Watson 8-9, Bramlet 2-6, Kitna 1-4.

PASSING-Indianapolis, Manning 3-4-0-56, Sauter 8-11-0-86, Sorgi 12-22-1-83. Cincinnati, Palmer 10-14-0-106, Kitna 10-15-1-65, Bramlet 5-6-0-81.

RECEIVING-Indianapolis, Bernard 6-50, Fletcher 5-47, Moorehead 3-44, Wayne 2-47, Rubin 2-15, C. Davis 2-(minus 1), D. Clark 1-9, Carthon 1-7, Hill 1-7. Cincinnati, Warrick 5-32, C. Johnson 4-52, Walter 3-32, Houshmandzadeh 2-29, Whalen 2-29, Watson 2-26, Washington 2-18, R. Johnson 1-10, Lynch 1-7, J. Johnson 1-7, Kelly 1-5, Mann 1-5.

MISSED FIELD GOAL-Indianapolis, Vanderjagt 46 (WL).

Return to Bengals front page...