Carson Palmer is getting better

The Cincinnati quarterback is calling more plays at the line of scrimmage.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- The pass is caught, the receiver is tackled, the ball is spotted by the official.
A moment later, the rest of the offense arrives, jogging to the line to set up before the defense can make a substitution or catch its breath.
The quarterback settles behind the center and studies the defense for clues to what is coming next. Then he backs away from the center, walks from lineman to lineman calling a play, makes a few arm gestures to the receivers, then settles in to take the snap.
Peyton Manning? Not in this case.
The more he plays, the more Carson Palmer looks like a striped version of Manning. A dozen games into his second season as Cincinnati's starter, Palmer's statistics are almost identical to those of the Indianapolis Colts' record-setting passer.
Mastering no-huddle
And Palmer is calling more plays at the line of scrimmage -- much like Manning -- in the Bengals' evolving no-huddle offense, one that has a familiar feel to it.
"They are similar to Indy," said Browns coach Romeo Crennel, who has faced both of them this season.
The one in Cincinnati is only now reaching its potential behind a quarterback who is on the verge of setting an assortment of records.
Palmer leads the league in accuracy (completing 68.7 percent) and touchdown passes (26), and is second to Manning with a passer rating of 106.6. He's had a passer rating over 100 in 11 games this season, tying Manning, Steve Young and Kurt Warner for the NFL record.
There's more.
His 26 touchdown passes are three shy of Ken Anderson's club record. He's on pace to become the first quarterback in Bengals history to throw for 4,000 yards -- no, Boomer Esiason never did it.
"He's gotten good," receiver Chad Johnson said Wednesday. "He's gotten real good, man. I'm sure he's in his own comfort zone as far as the play-calling and making the throws he needs to make.
"The sky's the limit for him and for our offense because the better he gets, the better we get as a group."
Picked up pointers
Last year, Johnson and Palmer drove to Indianapolis to watch Manning and the Colts work their no-huddle offense and pick up some pointers. In the last three games, the Bengals decided to turn Palmer loose and let him do something similar.
The result: 117 points, eight touchdown passes and a passer rating of 107.6 against three respected defenses -- Indianapolis, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Those defenses couldn't substitute or get in a comfort zone.
"I love it," Palmer said Wednesday. "It's just playing football. You go up to the line of scrimmage and play backyard football."
Their no-huddle isn't as advanced as what the Colts run -- this is, after all, Palmer's first time doing it -- but it's getting similar results. And the Bengals are starting to get comfortable using it the bulk of the time.
"Years ago, I think all of the offensive linemen hated it," right tackle Willie Anderson said. "It made us speed up our normal thinking process. We all love it now.