CINCINNATI — Cedric Benson smiled as he greeted his old Bears teammates and coaches at midfield, warmly pumping their hands or wrapping a beefy arm around their shoulder pads for a hug.
No need to rub it in. Everyone knew what he had just done.
He got his revenge, all right.
Benson ran for a career-high 189 yards and a touchdown against the team that let him go, and Carson Palmer threw five touchdown passes — four during Cincinnati’s dominant first half — in a shocking 45-10 victory Sunday that will go down as one of the worst days in Bears history.
“Everybody knew it was going to be an emotional day,” said Benson, who spent two turmoil-filled seasons in Chicago. “Everybody knew. What a wonderful day and a wonderful thing, to go out there and strut your stuff.”
The Bengals improved to 5-2 for the first time since 2005, when a fast-strike offense got them to the playoffs. There was a strong resemblance in the first half, when Cincinnati scored on all five possessions and went up 31-0. It tied for the third-most points the Bears (3-3) have allowed in an opening half.
In that half alone, Chad Ochocinco had 103 yards receiving and Benson had 98 yards rushing as the Bears gave up more points than they had in any game all season. Palmer finished 20-of-24 for 233 yards, one shy of his career high for touchdown throws.
“I don’t understand why it went this way today and why it didn’t go that way last week or the week before that,” said Ochocinco, who had 10 catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns. “The offensive line played unbelievable. For Ced to run the way he did today and for us to be able to throw, we could have done what we wanted to do.”
Chicago hadn’t given up so many first-half points since 2003.
Forced to throw, Jay Cutler had a tough time against the Bengals’ defense.
Cutler received a two-year contract extension last week through the 2013 season, an extra $20 million guaranteed as a sign of the Bears’ faith. In his first game since the show of confidence, Cutler threw three interceptions, fumbled two snaps and finished 26-of-37 for 251 yards.
