Sports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Arrowhead Stadium has long been a football cemetery for Kansas City Chiefs' opponents. But that wasn't the case Sunday.

Instead of a burial ground, the Cincinnati Bengals turned it into their playground, their stompin' ground, earning a hard-fought, 23-10 season-opening victory over the Chiefs in front of 77,956 spectators.

The game was marred by an injury to Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, who was taken off the field on a stretcher with 4:40 left in the third quarter after absorbing a hit from defensive end Robert Geathers.

Chiefs CEO Carl Peterson said Green suffered "severe head trauma," but "preliminary X-rays are all negative."

Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, back in the starting lineup exactly eight months after reconstructive left knee surgery, led an offense that was sometimes ugly, sometimes efficient. This triumph belonged to the Bengals defense.

The D-line accounted for seven sacks — three by Justin Smith, two by Geathers and one each by Domata Peko and John Thornton — but the Bengals scored only three points off three Chiefs turnovers.

"It was ugly," Palmer said. "We (the offense) struggled. But when our defense is playing the way they did, giving us great field position over and over again, they made our job easy."

• Star of the Game: Defensive end Justin Smith had five solo tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery.

• Goat of the Game: Chiefs wide receiver Samie Parker was penalized twice for offensive pass interference.

• Turning Point: With the score tied at 3, the Bengals used the no-huddle offense for an 11-play, 88-yard drive capped by Rudi Johnson's 22-yard burst at 5:15 of the second quarter.

• Quote of the Day: "We played hard. We played physical. We told the guys it would be a grind out here, and they came in with that kind of mentality ... to grind it." — Bengals coach Marvin Lewis.

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cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com

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