Monday, November 1, 2010

Bengals Blast Colts To Wrap Up NFL Preseason Play

By Ross Everett

Despite the fact that neither their starting QB Carson Palmer nor his Indy counterpart Peyton Manning saw action, the Cincinnati Bengals will take their wins however and whenever they can get them. For that reason, they had to be heartened by their NFL preseason ending 38-7 home rout of the Indianapolis Colts. The Bengals rushing game put 296 yards on the board and Cincinnati trounced Indianapolis in every significant offense statistical category.

The Bengals easily covered as a -3 home favorite, evening their NFL preseason record against the spread at 2-2. The Colts ATS mark also matched their SU record, dropping to 1-3 on the exhibition season. The combined 45 points went OVER the posted total of 36.

Peyton Mannings backup, Jim Sorgi, put up a solid performance in limited playing time after missing much of the preseason with a hamstring injury. Sorgi threw for 119 yards on 11 for 19 passing and a touchdown and gave an upbeat assessment of his play:

"I thought it was pretty solid. I got a little winded out there but all in all, I thought I saw everything real good and got us into the right plays. The hamstring responded pretty well tonight."

The Colts first year head coach Jim Caldwell agreed:

"He hasn't had much playing time. I thought he found his way out there. He put a pretty good game together and showed some flashes of what he can do."

While only two Indy starters played in the game, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was still happy with getting the win:

"You can't control who you play against. It was good to let our guys break a sweat and get out there and go."

Bengals starting QB Carson Palmer, who has sat out much of the preseason with an ankle sprain, said that hes anxious to get back in the game. Palmer will enter his regular season without much preparation, having thrown only 11 passes in exhibition play:

"It's a tease. It's just good to know that I'm that much closer. It's a week away. I'm excited."

Indianapolis will start their NFL regular season schedule on Sunday, September 13th as they host the Jacksonville Jaguars at Lucas Oil Stadium. Theyll head out on the road for their next contest, playing the Miami Dolphins in south Florida on Monday, September 21. The Bengals will host the Denver Broncos in their 2009 NFL season opener, with a road game on tap for week #2 as they head to Green Bay for a game against the Packers on Sunday, September 20.

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