One could argue that Chad Johnson's torn labrum hampered the Bengals offense. Another could be that the Ravens defense just brought their best game, a revised scheme, against a group of Bengals players that just weren't ready to play regular season game #1. Whatever the cause of the Bengals offense, it's fairly certain that (not only Carson Palmer, but) Chad Johnson had one of the worst games of his career.
After recording a single reception for 22 yards Sunday, I wondered about career lows in games that he caught at least one pass (that's critical, because there are games he's been shutout and since I'm not 100% whether he was shutout because of an early injury, I decided to scratch those out). Through 105 career games with at least one reception, Johnson recorded just one reception in four games. Before his performance against the Ravens' last Sunday, Johnson's last one-reception game came against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 28-20 win on September 24, 2006. You have to go all the way back to September 22, 2002 (@ Atlanta) and November 25, 2001 (@ Cleveland) when Johnson recorded only one reception in a game.
On the other hand, Johnson has seven performances of at least 10 receptions, and 26 contests of 100 yards or more; two performances with 200 yards receiving. The best game of his career, arguably, came in a 41-49 loss to the San Diego Chargers when Johnson recorded 11 receptions for 260 yards and two scores. He followed that up against New Orleans with six receptions for 190 yards and five scores. That stretch of games -- if I recall correctly -- is the best back-to-back performance by a Bengals receiver in franchise history.