"If there was any doubt whether or not Trent Edwards is the Bills' No. 1 quarterback, there shouldn't be anymore.

Yes, it's just the preseason, and yes, some of his work Saturday night came against Cincinnati's backups. But Edwards looked sharp, he looked like he was in command, and he looked like he knew what he was doing.

In other words, he looked like an NFL starting quarterback and his performance helped get the Bills started on their way to a 35-20 victory over the Bengals in front of an announced Kids Night crowd of 57,867 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"I just felt like we got in a good rhythm early on and we stuck with it," said Edwards, who completed 13 of 17 passes for 153 yards and directed scoring drives of 57, 65 and 71 yards in the first half.

"The guys up front battled for me and blocked their front four. That makes my job and C.J.'s job a lot easier."

Oh yes, C.J. Spiller. He also had a good first half.

On his first three carries of the night, with the line breaking down in front of him, Spiller had minus-16 yards. On his last nine carries, he gained 68 yards including a one-yard TD run, and a 20-yard score where he flashed his blazing speed around the left end. The first-round pick also had two receptions for 33 yards, one being a 26-yard jaunt on a screen pass one play before his touchdown run.

"Our line just had to get adjusted to how they were playing them and once they did, that kind of made our job easier, opening up running lanes and giving Trent time to throw the ball," said Spiller."