While Carson Palmer won't play tonight against the New England Patriots, we should see some of our defensive players that missed last week show up tonight. J.T. O'Sullivan is getting the start and Jordan Palmer will likely go in the second half.
Competitions and notes to observe.
The play of the offensive line. Can they build off last week? Chris Henry's production. A good yard/rush average by Cedric Benson, Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard. Can Chinedum Ndukwe make up any ground against Roy Williams? How effective will the Bengals secondary be against the first team Patriots offense? Will the Bengals get a pass rush?
All things considered, if the Bengals do better than last week, then that's improvement. That phase where everyone had hoped for perfection during the first game should be gone now and all you can hope for at this point is the continued progress towards the regular season.
Now, time to kick some Patriot ass.