Peyton Manning looked sharp in a loss to the Lions on Saturday, connecting on 12-of-15 passes for 123 yards in two-plus quarters for the Colts.

It's highly probable Manning won't play against Cincinnati. Backup QB Jim Sorgi hasn't played in the first three preseason games because of a hamstring injury, but he is expected to play extensively against the Bengals and it wouldn't be surprising if he started.

The Bengals are coming off a loss to the Rams. With Carson Palmer still injured, the offense has moved the ball in spurts but failed to get many points because of penalties and mistakes.

Can the Bengals take advantage of a Colts team that will most likely be resting a lot of their offensive weapon? At least the Bengals have finally signed top draft pick Andre Smith after a lengthy contract stalemate.

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The Pats, who are 7-point favorites, have to make a decision on who is going to be the backup quarterback to Brady. That makes me think Andrew Walter and Kevin O'Connell will get more snaps against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Backers must be thrilled with the New England running game so far. Then again, it is ideal for preseason games because it is about guys fighting for position.

The Patriots have failed to cover any of their last five exhibition games. Look for Cincinnati to make a better showing after such a poor effort in their opener, even if they don't have Carson Palmer. Palmer suffered a high ankle sprain against New Orleans and has been walking around with a boot since.

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The Bengals are a team in transition, especially on offense where reliable wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh left via free agency. Still, coach Marvin Lewis hopes that transition means the Bengals are trying to morph back to the team they were in 2005, when they finished 11-5 and in a first-place tie with the Steelers.

The Bengals will likely start the game with Carson Palmer and that is big news since the QB suffered through an injury-plagued season last year.

Drew Brees has nothing to prove after leading the league in passing yards last season so it is unlikely he’ll take many reps to avoid any injury risks.

Since the Bengals have a lot to prove this season, they have more to play for than the Saints in this one.

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The five-week series, which has its first episode on Aug. 12 at 10 p.m., will offer a backstage pass as this year’s team is built, starting with training camp and going through the four preseason games and the final roster cut-down date.

The Bengals, who are listed at +7000 to win the Super Bowl, have only two players remaining from the roster that Marvin Lewis inherited back in 2003  – wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco and long snapper Brad St. Louis.

Five-time Pro Bowl safety Roy Williams is hoping for a new start with the Cincinnati Bengals, and he’s trying to get a jump on things by slimming down to his rookie weight.

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Maybe it was a good thing Palmer wasn’t in there much, as the offensive line allowed 51 sacks last year – so perhaps it’s not such a bad thing that starting tackles Levi Jones and Stacy Andrews are gone. Also having departed is receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, who had at least 90 catches in each of the past three seasons and was the consistent opposite of inconsistent but loud Chad Ochocino, who remains a Bengal.  In signing Laveranues Coles, however, the Bengals seem to have a pretty solid replacement for Houshmandzadeh.

If there was a positive last year, it was that the team found running back Cedric Benson off the scrap heap. Believe it or not, the Bengals were unbeaten last year when Benson had at least 20 carries (4-0-1). He is the featured back this year but still has no 1,000-yard seasons in his career, so that might be asking a lot.

That beleaguered Cincinnati defense actually wasn’t too bad last year, ranking 12^th overall. But the pass rush wasn’t very good with just 17 sacks, and that problem wasn’t really addressed.

You will get to see more of this team on TV than ever before – assuming you get HBO. The Bengals are on that network’s “Hard Knocks” series this summer. Otherwise, there are no prime-time games scheduled.

Here is the Bengals’ 2009 schedule, and we’ll break it down after:

Sept. 13 vs. Denver Broncos, 1 p.m.

Sept. 20 at Green Bay Packers, 1 p.m.

Sept. 27 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m.

Oct. 4 at Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m.

Oct. 11 at Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m.

Oct. 18 vs. Houston Texans, 1 p.m.

Oct. 25 vs. Chicago Bears, 1 p.m.

Week 8: Bye

Nov. 8 vs. Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m.

Nov. 15 at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m.

Nov. 22 at Oakland Raiders, 4:15 p.m.

Nov. 29 vs. Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m.

Dec. 6 vs. Detroit Lions, 1 p.m.

Dec. 13 at Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m.

Dec. 20 at San Diego Chargers, 4:05 p.m.

Dec. 27 vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 1 p.m.

Jan. 3 at New York Jets, 1 p.m.

Strength of schedule: 22^nd (opponents combined to go 119-137, .465, in 2008)

Projected record: 5-11

Bodog over/under total: 6 1/2

Bodog odds to win Super Bowl XLIV: 65/1

Palmer, who is totally healthy, says the Bengals will be a different club than last year’s team.

"We won four games last year. We'll definitely win a lot more than that this year. Teams look at us and say, 'We got the Bengals on the schedule.' We're a whole different team this upcoming year than we were last year,” he said.

Cincinnati opens at home for just the second time in six years, and with Denver in the midst of an overhaul post-Jay Cutler, the Bengals could very well win that first game and might even be favored to do so. However, Cincy will drop the final two games in September, a month in which it is 1-6 in the past two years. The Bengals are 0-7 at Paul Brown Stadium against the Steelers if you were possibly thinking upset.

October looks like a 1-for-4 for the Bengals. They are 8-16 in that month under Marvin Lewis, which is their worst record in a month under Lewis. But they are 4-2 under Lewis at Cleveland after winning there last year. Hard to see Cincy beating likely playoff teams Baltimore, Houston and Chicago.

November looks like another 1-3 month. Forget about beating either Baltimore or Pittsburgh. But a sweep of the Browns is very possible. And while Oakland seems about at the Bengals’ level, Cincy is 0-9 all-time in Oakland.

Cincinnati should actually be favored in both home games in December. That Detroit game seems like a lock, especially considering Cincy is 10-2-1 in its past 13 home games against NFC opponents. The Bengals will then drop road games at Super Bowl contenders San Diego and Minnesota before handling the Chiefs back home.

That season finale against the Jets is the final regular-season game ever at Giants Stadium. I might have picked a Cincinnati upset if that wasn’t the case, but look for the Jets to be plenty pumped up. Thus the Bengals finish 5-11, which probably means Lewis finally loses his job.

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The 3-point underdog Bengals have a chance to win two in a row for the first time since taking their final two games last season after upsetting Washington 20-13 last Sunday.

Edwards has been plagued by drops all season, leading the NFL with 16, but he had five catches for 102 yards in Cleveland's 30-10 loss to Philadelphia on Monday night. The Browns have 10 losses one year after they won 10 games behind a potent offense.

Ryan Fitzpatrick was intercepted three times in Cincinnati's 20-12 loss to Cleveland on Sept. 28.

The under is 7-2 in the last nine meetings in Cleveland, while the under is 7-1 in the Bengals’ last eight games in December.

Backers of the Redskins will be curious to see if Portis hits the field fired up after the spat he and head coach Jim Zorn had this week. The Redskins need him badly since they have been held to 10 or fewer points in four of the last five games to fall to 29th in the league in scoring.

The 7-point underdog Bengals will be in tough once again. They have gone 0-3-1 since a 21-19 win over Jacksonville on Nov. 2 and have been outscored 69-6 the last two weeks.

This is tank time for the NFL’s worst teams. Spreads are creeping upwards as the books anticipate lousy teams like the Bengals will give less than the usual 100 percent, whether out of apathy or a concerted desire to improve their draft position. However, double-digit faves are just 4-17 ATS this season. The Colts are 0-3 ATS this year when favored by more than four points; the Bengals are 2-0 ATS when getting at least 12 points.

This week the Ravens start their push for the postseason against the lowly Bengals on the road.

The Bengals, who are 7-point underdogs, are 2-12 in their past 13 road games and 8-21-1 in their past 30 games. With five games remaining, the Bengals have equaled a single-season high for losses under Marvin Lewis with nine.

Carson Palmer is doubtful once again so the running game needs to improve fast. Last week the team had 20 rushes for 43 yards, and Cedric Benson ran for just 35 yards on 16 carries.