Looked Fine to Me

There was a lot of concern surrounding Carson Palmer's return to an NFL field last night, even from Palmer himself, who said physically he felt fine but wasn't sure about his mental state. Palmer admitted he still thought about the hit to his left knee that ended his - and the Bengals' - season last year.

While Bengal fans talked all off season of how Kimo Von Oelhoffen's takedown of Palmer was deliberate, Bengals players seemed to vent their frustrations by breaking just about every law possible short of murder (give it a week).

All Carson Palmer did was work on getting his knee better. Despite being told it was an injury with a 12-16 month recovery window, Palmer returned to the field last night after only seven-and-a-half months.

It didn't take long to ease Palmer's concerns. After completing his first pass to Chris "Lock Up Your Teenage Daughters" Henry, Palmer was tackled by Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. He popped right back up.

"It felt good to get hit and to know my knee could withstand the contact. They can talk all they want about you being ready to go, but until you get hit, until you get pressure on the knee from another player, that's when you know you really feel confident about it."

-Carson Palmer

The collective sigh of relief could be heard throughout Ohio. A few plays later, Palmer took off for an 11 yard scramble, before sliding to the turf to a chorus of "GET DOWN!!" from fans, coaches and probably some teammates.

After 25 minutes of play, Palmer left the field for the night. He had completed 9 of 14 passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns. He picked the Packers secondary, particularly fellow Heisman winner Charles Woodson, apart.

The real story of this game may in fact be just how horrible Brett Favre looked. On the Packers opening series, Favre lost the handle on the football without being touched. Dexter Jackson picked it up, dropped it, picked it up again, and returned it 29 yards for the touchdown.

On the next series Favre threw an interception. He was seemingly under pressure every play, behind a offensive line featuring 2 rookie guards.

Ahman Green also made his return to an NFL field last night after a thigh injury ended his 2005 season. He managed 18 yards on 8 carries.

Judging from last night, 2006 is going to be a lot more of the same for both teams. The Bengals are a team on the rise and appear ready to challenge the Steelers for the AFC North, while the Packers look to be in for a long season.

See you on September 10th, Brett.

In other NFL news the Jets named Chad Pennington their opening day starter, while the Texans are considering dropping Domanick Davis from their 53 man roster. Can Mario Williams play running back?