Bengals beat Colts in preseason finale

Associated Press

Indianapolis

Cedric Peerman had a 93-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Indianapolis Colts 30-28 on Thursday night in the preseason finale for both teams.

Peerman finished with 100 yards rushing, and Jordan Palmer completed 10 of 14 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns for the Bengals (3-2). Starting quarterback Carson Palmer played for one possession, which netted a field goal.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning didn’t play, and most of Indy’s starters took the night off. Curtis Painter got the start and completed nine of 20 passes for 114 yards. Backup Tom Brandstater completed 10 of 18 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns, all to rookie Brandon James.

It’s the sixth winless preseason in Colts history.

Mike Nugent opened the scoring with a 52-yard field goal, capping a nine-play drive for the Bengals. A key play was a 12-yard completion from Palmer to Chad Ochocinco on a third-and-4 from the Cincinnati 49.

The Bengals got a short field on their next possession after Quan Cosby returned a punt 28 yards to the Indianapolis 42. Dave Raynor ended it with a 39-yard field goal to give Cincinnati a 6-0 lead.

The Colts put together their first threat of the game in the second quarter.

A quick pass from Painter to Blair White on a third-and-1 turned into a 52-yard catch and run.

Adam Vinatieri kicked a 23-yard field goal to put the Colts on the board with 4:32 left in the first half.

White finished with seven catches for 132 yards.

Vinatieri’s 36-yard field goal tied it at 6 with 53 seconds left in the first half.

Cincinnati opened the second-half scoring with the long touchdown run by Peerman.