Palmer, Bengals upend Steelers to remain unbeaten PITTSBURGH (AP) -- He hated the eight months of exhausting rehabilitation, and the team that made him go through it. Carson Palmer didn't play the way he wanted against the team he dislikes the most, but the result couldn't have been more satisfying. Alternating between brilliant and awful, the Cincinnati quarterback threw two touchdown passes to T.J. Houshmandzadeh less than a minute apart midway through the fourth quarter following Pittsburgh Steelers turnovers and the unbeaten Bengals rallied for a 28-20 victory Sunday over the Super Bowl champions.
"We're a better team than we were last year and we expected to come in here and win this game,but it took everything we had," running back Rudi Johnson said.
PASSING OFFENSE: C-plus — Carson Palmer hit for four touchdown passes, but he also threw two interceptions and was sacked six times. He lost one of three fumbles when hit in the pocket. The Steelers held Chad Johnson to one catch for 11 yards, but it came at a p rice. T.J. Houshmandzadeh had nine receptions, two for touchdowns, and two of Chris Henry's six receptions went for scores. They had single coverage. The line had trouble with Pittsburgh blitzes.
RUSHING OFFENSE: C — The Bengals stayed with the run, in an attempt to balance their offense. Though Rudi Johnson was held to 47 yards on 19 carries (2.5-yard average), Kenny Watson ran three times for 35 yards, one for 18 yards on a draw play that pushed the ball inside the Steelers 5 and set up a touchdown pass.
—C Rich Braham (knee) will miss the New England game Sunday and is likely to miss several weeks. Eric Ghiaciuc will start.—S Dexter Jackson (ankle) is likely to miss the Bengals game Sunday against New England. —WR Tab Perry, who has a hip injury, probably will be out, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said Monday."Tab will probably be out until we come back from the bye, and then we'll get a better determination of when he'll get back," Lewis said. —WR Antonio Chatman (groin) "is really improving and I think this week has a chance to be upgraded on the injury report come Wednesday," Lewis said. —RB Chris Perry, who is on the physically unable to perform list because of an ankle injury, could make a speedy comeback in time for the Carolina game Oct. 22. "He continues to work hard is back to doing some of the football reactive type work that I think he was a little bit apprehensive doing right at the start," Lewis said of Perry, who caught 51 passes in 2005.
—DE Jonathan Fanene, also on PUP because of a hamstring injury, could possibly return quickly, as well, Lewis said.
The NFL Substance Abuse Policy is clear: If a player under a four-game suspension (Stage 2)is found to have violated his treatment program, he automatically advances to Stage 3. A third violation carries a minimum of a one-year banishment from the league.
Thurman, currently serving a four-game suspension for a second violation of the policy, was cited this morning for driving under the influence of alcohol. The contents of his treatment plan are not known.
As he continues to carve out his own identity as a respected receiver, out of the shadow of college and pro teammate Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh was today named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week by the NFL.
From the Bengals PR department:
In his first game action since suffering a heel bruise in the third preseason game, Houshmandzadeh returned to the field in Cincinnati?s 28-20 victory at Pittsburgh on Sunday. He recorded a game-high nine receptions for 94 yards against the defending Super Bowl champions, including two clutch touchdown catches.
Coach Marvin Lewis expects middle linebacker Odell Thurman to be suspended for the rest of the season following his arrest early Monday on a drunken driving charge, making him the sixth Cincinnati Bengal arrested this year. Thurman, already serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, could get an additional one-year suspension from the league.
The Team 
