The Cincinnati Bengals played their third of five preseason tilts on Friday night and may have had their best showing yet as they beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 22-9. Let’s take a look at some of the key notes from the game:

CARSON PALMER – Palmer continues to complete passes (67.44%) as he connected on 15-of-23 attempts for 168 yards, but he has yet throw for a touchdown and was picked off twice. He was able to connect with new target, Terrell Owens, for a 43-yard strike. However, he is only averaging 6.79 yards per attempt for the preseason.

WIDE RECEIVERS – Owens continues to be the favorite target for Palmer in the passing game.  He finished Friday’s game with three catches for 67 yards and now has nine receptions for 108 yards in three preseason games. Meanwhile, Chad Ochocinco has managed to pull in just three balls for 33 yards in that span. There was a Jermone Simpson sighting as he caught a ball for 22 yards. The former second-round pick is likely to be cut later this month.

JERMAINE GRESHAM – The team’s first-round pick, tight end Jermaine Gresham, looked solid again as he pulled in three balls for 34 yards in limited action.

RUNNING BACKS – Cedric Benson churned out his best effort of the preseason (10 att, 30 RuYd), but only averaged 3.0 yards per carry. He did add 29 more yards on five catches.  Bernard Scott scored the team’s first touchdown of the game on a 7-yard run and finished with just 13 yards on two carries before leaving with a shoulder injury.  Cedric Peerman stated his case for a roster by scoring a pair of touchdowns and tallying 47 yards on 12 carries against the Eagles’ scrubs.

ANDRE SMITH – Freddie Childress…I mean Andre Smith made his first start of the preseason, but looked terrible.  He was beaten consistently off the ball and flagged for two penalties.

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KICKING BATTLE – There continues to be little separation in the team’s kicking battle and neither option seems to be very appealing. Mike Nugent missed a 59-yard field goal, but that is to be expected. Raymer has done nothing to impress and wide-left on his 34-yard attempt. Suddenly Shayne Graham is not sounding that bad.

ADAM JONES – Adam “Pacman” Jones returned a kick for 44 yards and a punt for 22 yards and looks like a lock to make the roster as a returner / nickel back.

DEFENSE – The unit looked solid from top to bottom. They held the Eagles to just three field goals and played with intensity after looking lifeless in the previous two exhibition games.  Dhani Jhones forced a fumble as did Jonathan Joseph, who knocked Eagles’ wide receiver Jeremy Maclin out of the game.  Defensive back Morgan Trent came up with three second-half interceptions as he battles for a spot. Rookies Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins each recorded a sack.

PENALTIES – It may only be the preseason, but the Bengals have continued a 2009 trend by being flagged early and often.  Friday night was no different as the team was penalized 10 times for 75 yards. Through three preseason contests they have 29 penalties for 269 yards, YIKES!

INJURIES – Veteran free agent Gibril Wilson suffered a torn ACL and MCL and is out for the season. He was expected to add much-needed depth in the secondary and now will require surgery.  Bernard Scott left the game in the second quarter with a shoulder injury. Wide receiver Antonio Bryant did not dress as he continues to battle a knee injury.

BLACKOUT – The game was aired nationally on FOX Sports, but blacked out in the Cincinnati and Dayton markets. It will be replayed on Saturday at 4PM on NFL Network.

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Signing defensive tackle Domata Peko to a five-year contract extension through 2014 might be the best move the Bengals made during the offseason. The run stuffer does a great job providing all important pressure up the middle on passing downs, especially for a team that offers little from their rush ends.  With Peko, Robert Geathers and Antwan Odom signed to long-term deals, the Bengals defensive line is solid even if they don't put up big sack numbers.  

Bengals beat writer Chick Ludwig of the Dayton Daily News sees a big difference in the new regime.

"It has adopted a tougher, more aggressive, in-your-face philosophy and mentality under new coordinator Mike Zimmer and new linebackers coach Jeff FitzGerald in an attempt to improve on its No. 27 overall ranking," Ludwig wrote on his blog.

"The unit definitely needs to be more stout at the point of attack because it’ll play 13 games against returning 1,000-yard rushers this fall."

Here's Chick's projected opening line-up on defense:

LE — Robert Geathers, Jonathan Fanene

LDT — Domata Peko, Jason Shirley

RDT — John Thornton, Pat Sims

RE — Antwan Odom, Frostee Rucker

SLB — Rashad Jeanty, Ahmad Brooks

MLB — Dhani Jones, Jim Maxwell

WLB — Keith Rivers, Brandon Johnson

LCB — Johnathan Joseph, Deltha O’Neal

RCB — Leon Hall, David Jones

SS — Chinedum Ndukwe, Dexter Jackson

FS — Marvin White, Corey Lynch

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Just weeks after being reinstated from a two-year absence by the NFL, Odell Thurman was relased by the Bengals on Monday.  Thurman went back home to Georgia on May 12 to attend his grandmother's funeral and had not returned to town before the Bengals cut the ax. At this point it is not clear why the Bengals made the move now, just months before Thurman finally returns to the field, but the team is making it clear that they are no longer tolerating anything less than a professional effort.

Geoff Hobson wrote on the team's website that "Thurman didn't return to Cincinnati for workouts last week and apparently wasn't back Monday. Indications are that the Bengals weren't pleased with his attendance in the offseason workout program that also includes the installation of a new defense with a new linebackers coach."

"The NFL provided Odell the opportunity to earn his way back onto our team, but we have not seen the right steps taken by him," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "With our offseason work in progress and new talent added at our linebacker position, we've determined it's best to keep moving in a direction that does not include Odell.""The NFL provided Odell the opportunity to earn his way back onto our team, but we have not seen the right steps taken by him," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis told ESPN.com. "With our offseason work in progress and new talent added at our linebacker position, we've determined it's best to keep moving in a direction that does not include Odell."

Despite missing much of his rookie training camp because of a protracted contract impasse, Thurman appeared in 15 games in 2005, all as a starter, and registered 148 tackles, one sack, five interceptions, nine passes defensed and four forced fumbles. The former Georgia star and second-round draft pick was a candidate for defensive rookie of the year honors.

Thurman had two years left on his original rookie contract with the Bengals. The deal would have paid him $520,000 in 2008 and $615,000 in 2009. He lost $785,000 in salary during his two-year suspension.

Hobson also speculates that the Bengals "are set to line up with Dhani Jones in the middle, but it has never been his primary position during eight NFL seasons. Ahmad Brooks has just been switched from the middle to SAM backer. Corey Mays, a third-year player with 20 NFL games who made one start at SAM last season, may also be able to play the middle."

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It has been a busy Friday afternoon for the Cincinnait Bengals, headlined by the trade with the Lions to acquire DT Shaun Rogers.  The team's website is citing various NFL sources saying that the team has sent its third and fifth round choices in this year's draft to Detroit in exchange for the former second round pick.

The move is another indication that the Bengals will be moving to a 3-4 defense under new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. Rogers has been highly touted at points during his career and has been twice named to the Pro Bowl. He is on the verge of his 29th birthday and locked up for three more years ($4.25 million this season, $5.25 million in 2009 and $7 million in 2010).  He will come to Cincinnati with some baggage though.  He's listed at 340 pounds, but there is speculation that it is closer to 370 pounds and Rogers' conditioning and work ethic has been criticized by Lions' head coach Rod Marenelli. Still, he managed seven sacks in 2007.

The move is intriguing. Yeah, it comes with baggage but the Bengals had a couple draft picks to play with and they are taking a chance on a player who comes with a ton of upside.

Rogers comes town, but two other defensive starters are on their way out.  Safety Madieu Williams rejoins former defensive coordinator in Minnesota as he signed a $17 million, three-year deal with Vikings. In addition, talks between the 49ers and defensive end Justin Smith are intensifying and it is likely a deal could be reached this weekend.

The team was able to re-sign linebacker Dhani Jones.  The thirty-year old veteran came to the team in middle of the season last year to plug up a depleted corps of linebackers and ended being one of the few bright spots on defense.

Mark Crunette of the Enquirer is reporting that Bengals will host the highly touted free agent Tennessee Titans defensive end Antwan Odom on Sunday. It will be his first visit to any team.  Odom is a 274-pound defensive end who had a career-high eight sacks last season for the Titans.

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