Palmer Makes the Outfit Work

They ain’t pretty, but they’re awfully popular.

Those shocking-orange Cincinnati Bengal jerseys -- the ones that make people look like walking traffic cones -- are selling better than ever these days, especially the ones with PALMER across the back.

“We sell a dozen a day,” said Greg Koch, co-owner of Koch’s Sporting Goods in Cincinnati. “We have Carson Palmer jerseys in toddlers’, boys’, women’s and men’s. We have three different grades and three different colors.

“Carson is hot.”

Palmer, the No. 1 pick in 2003 and former Heisman Trophy winner from USC, has completed 77% of his passes in the last four games dating to last season, and his team is 3-1 over that span. Since last Nov. 28, he has the NFL’s highest passer rating, 113.7, edging Peyton Manning’s 106.0 and Ben Roethlisberger’s 103.4.

What self-respecting quarterback wouldn’t give the jersey off his back for those kind of numbers?

Not that Palmer is satisfied.

“There’s always room for improvement,” he told reporters this week. “Percentages aren’t always the best measuring stick for how you’re playing.”

Palmer said he made “a number” of mistakes in Cincinnati’s 27-13 victory at Cleveland last Sunday, even though his performance was among the best of opening weekend. It’s in keeping, though, with his philosophy that it’s better to be self-critical than self-congratulatory.

“Whether I complete 100%,” he said, “once you get complacent and think that there’s no room for improvement, that’s when your game starts going down. You can play a phenomenal game and complete 60% of your passes. The measuring stick is how you feel after watching the game film.”

Palmer has several things working in his favor. He has good coaches in offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski and quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese, and he has an uncommonly supportive backup in Jon Kitna to serve as an extra set of eyes and ears. Palmer also has permission to check out of a play at the line of scrimmage if he sees something better develop.

“I’ve been given a lot of freedom,” he said. “It’s the quarterback’s job to get you in the right play.”

And in the right jersey. This quarterback, it seems, is outfitting a city.

It used to be that the Bengals had a hard time getting official jerseys made. Reebok won’t bother on orders smaller than 360 units. Now, at Koch’s alone, there are 300 Palmer jerseys on display and dozens more in back.

“He’s a good guy, stays out of trouble, keeps his nose clean and people like him,” Koch said. “And he throws a good ball.”

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Ask any NFL rookie what’s the biggest difference between college football and the NFL, and he’ll tell you it’s the speed of the game.

Same goes for Norm Chow.

Chow, the former USC offensive coordinator who now handles those duties for the Tennessee Titans, said one of the most difficult adjustments for him has been picking up the pace of play-calling.

“It’s challenging as all get-out,” said Chow, whose team plays host to Baltimore in its home opener Sunday. “The game goes so fast. We essentially had the ball eight times. In college, you’re looking at 12, 14, 16 times. Here, you absolutely cannot waste a play.”

In its 34-7 loss to Pittsburgh last Sunday, Tennessee scored a touchdown on its first possession but subsequently had two interceptions, two lost fumbles, a missed field-goal attempt, and ended each half with the ball.

The pace was fast and furious -- maybe even faster than Chow expected. At one point, after a 53-yard completion, the Titans hustled to the line of scrimmage and attempted to get another play off but ran out of time, drawing a delay-of-game flag.

Back at USC, Chow had time at halftime to gather his offensive coaches and discuss second-half adjustments. Sunday, he barely had time to ride the elevator down from the press box, use the bathroom, and say a few words to his fellow assistant coaches before heading back up.

“I told the guys, ‘If you think of something, write it down, because I’m not going to have enough time to talk about it,’ ” Chow said.

The Titans, who had a 1 p.m. kickoff, were on the plane and ready to head home by 5. Another lesson Chow is learning: If you’re going to bemoan a loss in the NFL, you’d better do it quickly, then move on.

“Everything comes and goes so fast,” he said. “It’s just storming by.”

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Chad Pennington was charged with six fumbles last Sunday at Kansas City, but the New York Jet quarterback can take solace in a few things. First of all, he isn’t typically a fumbler; he had only five all last season; and not all of the ones against the Chiefs were his fault. Two were the result of botched shotgun snaps by center Kevin Mawae. The Jets are trying the shotgun for the first time since 2000 and didn’t encounter any problems with it this summer.

Lastly, Pennington was not alone. There were 56 turnovers by quarterbacks in Week 1, which, according to STATS LLC, were the most by quarterbacks in a single week since Week 13 in 1991.

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The Jets should be more worried about what happened on the sideline last Sunday.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, after Kansas City running back Larry Johnson scored to give the home team a 27-0 lead, New York nose tackle James Reed punctuated an argument by punching teammate Jonathan Vilma in the left eye.

Vilma, a linebacker, was the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year last season and -- who knows? -- might have mentioned that Reed was buried on Johnson’s touchdown run.

The players indicated they’ve patched things up, but Vilma’s left eyeball is still pomegranate red.

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Pittsburgh Coach Bill Cowher is among those people who say the New Orleans Saints have become the new America’s team.

“Of all the games I saw Sunday, I don’t know how you can’t pull for the New Orleans Saints,” Cowher said. “It just seems what they’ve gone through and what they represent, I’m glad we’re not playing them.”

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Not everybody was surprised by Miami’s 34-10 pounding of Denver last Sunday.

“The public was surprised,” Miami defensive end Jason Taylor conceded. “They were like, ‘Holy cow! The Dolphins won!’ ”

But in the Dolphin locker room, Taylor said, “You didn’t see anybody like, ‘Oh my God, we kicked the ... out of the Broncos.’ We won a game we expected to win. It wasn’t like the second coming or anything.”

But can they pull off an encore against the Jets on Sunday? The last seven times the teams have played in New York, the Jets have won six and have enjoyed a plus-11 turnover differential.

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Tom Brady honors his bets.

After Notre Dame beat Michigan, Brady’s alma mater, the New England star showed up in the Patriot locker room wearing an “ND Football” cap. He had lost a bet with Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis, the former Patriot offensive coordinator.

Brady had to wear the cap at all news conferences this week, but he wore it backward over his Patriot cap so TV cameras wouldn’t pick up the logo.

“I don’t want the Michigan coaches to disown me,” he said.

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It’s worth noting that Brady loves Los Angeles, and not just because he’s dating actress Bridget Moynahan. He loves it because he can blend in here better than he can in a lot of cities with an NFL team. He likes the anonymity of being just another star in a constellation.

Brady’s agent, Don Yee, is based in L.A. and likes to take him out to dinner, often in Chinatown. This off-season they stopped in for a bite at Yang Chow’s and didn’t even draw a second glance. Not even a peek. That was strange, even by L.A. standards.

Until they noticed Yao Ming at the next table.

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Touchdown connections

The top five quarterback-to-receiver scoring combinations in NFL history:

*--* Quarterback Receiver Team Seasons TDs Steve Young Jerry Rice San Francisco 49ers 1987-99 85 Peyton Manning Marvin Harrison Indianapolis Colts 1998-present 83 Dan Marino Mark Clayton Miami Dolphins 1983-92 79 Jim Kelly Andre Reed Buffalo Bills 1986-96 65 Johnny Unitas Raymond Berry Baltimore Colts 1956-67 63

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