Bengals Just Keep Picking Off Wins

The Cincinnati Bengals picked up the habit of bumbling starts after 1990, the last time they started 3-0 and made the playoffs. On Sunday, they broke it -- with a 24-7 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Cincinnati, which began the game with a league-leading 10 take-aways, picked off Bear quarterback Kyle Orton five times, and the Bengals became the first NFL team in 34 years to intercept five passes in consecutive games.

The Bengals’ fast start didn’t satisfy Carson Palmer.

“Three games is nothing when you play a 16-game season,” the Bengal quarterback said. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s great to be 3-0 and have this start. But we still have a lot of games -- a lot of big games -- ahead of us and a lot of really good teams.”

Madieu Williams, Keiwan Ratliff, Tory James, Deltha O’Neal and Brian Simmons each intercepted a pass against the Bears. That matched the five interceptions the Bengals had against Daunte Culpepper last week in a 37-8 victory over Minnesota. The 1971 Cleveland Browns were the last to pick off five in back-to-back games.

Palmer completed 16 of 23 passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Chad Johnson. Palmer did not have an interception against a Chicago defense that had picked off five Joey Harrington passes last week against Detroit.

The Bengals’ Rudi Johnson added 84 yards rushing in 25 carries. Chicago’s Thomas Jones rushed for 106 yards and scored the lone touchdown for the Bears (1-2) on a two-yard run early in the fourth quarter.

Cedric Benson, the first-round draft pick who rushed for 49 yards last week, did not play. When asked why, Bear Coach Lovie Smith said, “I didn’t think the timing was right at the time. Cedric, of course, is a good football player, but Thomas was running the ball well.”

The Bengal offense, which averaged 462 yards over the first two weeks, finished with 244.

“We’re definitely not there yet,” Palmer said. “Offensively, we do some good things, but we’re still a ways away from where we need to be.”