On The Bright Side: Carson Palmer's Second Half Performance Nearly Led To An Upset

Confused? Are you saying, "now, you just brought up something bad about Palmer"? Yes, we brought up the leadership issues earlier and we believe it stands. On the other hand, we'd be single-minded fans if we didn't point out that Carson Palmer really hit his stride on Sunday. Simply put, when you're defense gives up five plays of 40 yards or more and 436 yards of total offense, you need an offense that will respond in kind. Cincinnati had that Sunday afternoon. Specifically, the second half with Palmer completing 12 of 16 passes for 146 yards passing and a touchdown for a passer rating of 123.4. Much of Cincinnati's success in the second half came on several third-and-long situations where Palmer was, simply put, throwing fewer mistakes with better accuracy and greater communication between he and his receivers.

On the first drive in the second half with 6:33 left in the third quarter, the Bengals line up third-and-nine on New Orleans' 49-yard line. Palmer takes the shotgun snap, scrambles in the pocket (more like, "oh crap, oh crap, oh crap") just as Chad Ochocinco was entering the second half of his crossing pattern (i.e. running straight) going left to right, breaking free underneath. The line parted, the lane opened and Palmer unleashed a fast ball at Chad, who caught the pass, turned upfield and picked up 33 yards. Chad's first reception of the game put the Bengals on New Orleans' 16-yard line. Several plays later, the Bengals line up first-and-goal from the five-yard line. Owens, wide right, runs a drag route from right to left, finding enough interference from bodies underneath to break from coverage. Carson Palmer hits Owens near the left side of the endzone for the touchdown.

This was the theme throughout the second half. After Reggie Nelson picked off a Drew Brees pass, Carson Palmer hit Chad for another 20-yard gain on the ensuing drive that eventually pushed Cincinnati to New Orleans' one-yard line before Cedric Benson scored his first rushing touchdown of the afternoon with 13:42 left in the fourth quarter (if I get wordy, let me know). After Drew Brees connected with Robert Meachem on a 52-yard touchdown pass that gave New Orleans an eight-point lead, the Bengals responded with an eight-play, 59 yard drive with Carson Palmer completing a 21-yard pass on third-and-ten. Benson would go on to score his second touchdown in the game. Oh, and we'd be remise if we didn't thank New Orleans' special teams for adding a 12th man on the field as the Bengals were punting, extending the drive for the eventual game-tying touchdown. The Bengals went for two and Palmer rocketed a fastball into Jermaine Gresham's basket for the game-tying reception.

The Bengals and Saints would exchange points with Cincinnati scoring a field goal and New Orleans scoring a touchdown to end the game. It wouldn't be until later that issues surfaced, and that's largely thanks to Sims' neutral zone infraction that forced the Bengals offense to go all funky town with 30 seconds left in the game.

Terrell Owens may be complaining about the play-calling; while obviously true, his point of view (we suspect) is mostly about giving him the football, since he referred to himself so many times. And maybe the Bengals should. But if you watched Sunday's game, the Bengals offense appeared to flow nicely when Chad Ochocinco was more involved. We still believe there are leadership issues with Palmer, if not this entire team. At the same time, if not for Palmer's second half performance against the Saints on Sunday, the Bengals are nowhere close to being in a position to win the game.