The Preseason's Here! The Preseason's Here! -- Preseason Week 1 Recap

For years, pundits have cautioned readers and viewers of how little there actually is to discern from games played in the preseason. Formations are limited and basic, plays are watered down and predictable and the word vanilla is for some reason the most common adjective to describe preseason action. But, like every year, we addicts have been jones-ing for a peek at the gridiron for the past six months, so, naturally, we make a big deal about it and feel compelled to give analysis anyway.

Allow me to follow suit.

The offensive line---that worrisome band of overgrown, green-horned youngsters and one grizzled but smiling veteran, Bobby Williams---looked like a cohesive unit capable of providing spacious holes for Cedric Benson to run through and capable of giving Carson Palmer enough time to get comfortable in the pocket. The scheme the offensive line faced against the Saints in the preseason opener will seem like ring-around-the-rosie compared to the the carnage that the Steelers and Ravens are sure to bring when it counts, but still it was nice to see the most vulnerable part of the team undaunted in their first live action of the new year.

More concerning was the play of Carson Palmer. There are certain facets of the game that Palmer has shown little improvement on throughout his career and some of those surfaced again in New Orleans last Friday.

The most minor gripe to Palmer's game is his inability to throw a good deep ball. He regularly underthrows his speedsters on fly routes causing the receiver to wait on the ball and make a more difficult play. T.J. Houshmandzadeh cultivated an early jump technique in order to adjust to Palmer's underthrown deep balls.

On the very first play from scrimmage, Palmer went deep to Chad Ochocinco and had Carson delivered it three more yards, it very well could have resulted in a score. Instead, Chad waited on the ball and it was knocked down once the defender caught up with the play. With deep threats like Chad and Chris Henry, it's important to hit receivers in stride once they break free from the defender. Important, that is, if the Bengals want back the quick-strike offense that once took the league by surprise.

Another poor mark against Palmer was his bad read on the interception to Johnathan Vilma. Since his knee injury, Palmer has been interception-prone, leading the league in picks in 2007. Sometimes he tries forcing the ball into tight spots, but more regularly, he doesn't recognize defenders and throws it right to them. He admitted after the game that he should have run for the first down rather than try and chance it with a linebacker lurking in the area. Palmer must cut down on his turnovers for this offense to noticeably improve.

Carson does a lot of things well and he's still a top-10 quarterback in the league, but he needs to sharpen his improvisational skills, his progression reads and his deep throws before he becomes an elite signal-caller once again.

One player who does appear ready to return to stardom is the fast-talking, but actually faster running, Ochocinco. He seemed razor sharp in his first field action since his forgettable year last season. Once he broke free of his defender on a curl route, he gazelled his way for 40 or more yards and showed a bit of the dangerous side to him that some of us had forgotten he possessed.

Marvin was critical of Chris Henry's inconsistencies regarding dropped passes, but Slim had no problems slicing up the Saints' backup secondary and showed that he too could be a match-up problem for a lot of teams on the Bengals' schedule. Laveranues Coles got popped on his first catch as a Bengal, but bounced back to catch another one and clearly has a set of plays already designed for him.

Even backup quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan made some nice throws, particularly one long one to Henry on a play where O'Sullivan got smacked to the turf and never even saw the pass completed. Jordan Palmer threw accurately on the run and looked more confident than he did in garbage time at the end of games last year.

All in all, the offense showed some life and it all starts with that inexperienced line up front. Even without Andre Smith, offensive line coach Paul Alexander is under the microscope with such a raw stockpile to work with. These guys are protecting some valuable assets; they must hold up under pressure. They must. Maybe Alexander knows something we don't; let's hope so.

Mojokong---too excited for perspective.