Foxsports: Martin runs all over Bengals in Jets' victory

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Andrea Adelson / Associated Press
Posted: 7 minutes ago



EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - Curtis Martin ran here and dashed there, leaving Carson Palmer to watch the veteran running back ruin his NFL debut.

Martin ran for 196 yards and a touchdown, and added another score on a 3-yard TD reception to help the New York Jets beat the Cincinnati Bengals 31-24 Sunday.
The game marked the regular-season NFL debut for Palmer, the No. 1 overall pick in 2003. The Heisman Trophy winner commanded the offense well and made very few mistakes, going 18-of-27 for 248 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.


Curtis Martin finished with 29 carries for the third-highest total of his NFL career. (Bill Kostroun / AP)

But Palmer could not do anything about Martin, who looked better than he has in years. The 31-year-old Martin has struggled early in the last two seasons, so the Jets made an effort to reverse the trend in the preseason, giving Martin more carries and more work in training camp.

It worked against the Bengals. Martin ripped off long runs and broke tackles, and that helped open up the offense. Chad Pennington threw for two touchdowns, going 20-of-27 for 224 yards in the first season-opening start of his career.

He picked on rookie cornerback Madieu Williams, who started in place of Deltha O'Neal, out with an ankle injury. Williams gave up a 46-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to Jonathan Carter in the first quarter, and he struggled for most of the game to keep up with the speedy Jets receivers.

The Bengals trailed 14-10 at halftime and hoped to get ahead with the first possession of the third quarter. But Rudi Johnson fumbled, and Donnie Abraham returned it 41 yards for a touchdown to put the Jets up 21-10.

But Palmer led the Bengals back, and his 6-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Watson cut the deficit to 21-17. After a field goal by Doug Brien, Martin essentially put the game out of reach with a 24-yard score to make it 31-17.

Palmer tried to rally the Bengals. He threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Chad Johnson with a little over three minutes to go to bring them within a touchdown. With one final chance from around midfield, Palmer lofted a pass for Peter Warrick, but rookie safety Erik Coleman intercepted it to seal the victory.

Though Palmer made his long-anticipated debut, Martin was the story of the game. He finished with 29 carries for the third-highest total of his NFL career. Martin needs 9 yards to surpass Freeman McNeil as the Jets' career leading rusher.

Things started badly for the Jets. Carter fumbled the opening kickoff, and Reggie Myles recovered for the Bengals at the Jets 25. Palmer completed his first NFL pass to Chad Johnson for 6 yards, then converted a third down to set the Bengals up at the 9.

Rudi Johnson scored on a run on the next play to put the Bengals up early. It was their only lead of the game.

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3006834