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Cincinnati (11-5) at Kansas City (10-6) Sunday 1:00 pm EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Carson Palmer alleviated any concerns the Cincinnati Bengals may have had about his left knee during the preseason.

Palmer gets to test his knee for real Sunday when the Bengals meet the Kansas City Chiefs in the season opener for both teams.

Last season, Palmer developed into one of the league's elite quarterbacks, completing 67.8 percent (345-of-509) of his passes for 3,836 yards and 32 touchdowns with 12 interceptions en route to his first Pro Bowl appearance.

But after leading the Bengals to their first playoff appearance since the 1990 season, Palmer's stay in the postseason was a short one after he suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his knee in the first quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild card round.

Palmer underwent major surgery, putting his status for the start of this season in jeopardy. But Palmer returned for the Bengals' final two preseason games to complete 13-of-20 passes for 213 yards and four touchdowns.

Palmer is the centerpiece of the potent Cincinnati offense that also features wide receiver Chad Johnson and running back Rudi Johnson. Chad Johnson had 97 catches for 1,432 yards and nine touchdowns last season while Rudi Johnson rushed for 1,458 yards and 12 scores.

Last season, Kansas City became only the fourth team to win 10 games and not make the playoffs since the NFL expanded the postseason field to 12 teams after the 1990 season.

In the regular-season finale which proved to be the final game for coach Dick Vermeil, who retired, the Chiefs rolled to a 37-3 victory over the Bengals here. Larry Johnson rushed for 201 yards and three TDs for Kansas City, which took advantage of a Cincinnati team that rested many of its starters.

The job in Kansas City now falls to Herman Edwards, who served as coach of the New York Jets for the last five seasons and guided them to the playoffs three times.

Edwards' primary job will be to accelerate the development of a defense that ranked 25th last season.

One of Edwards' biggest additions on the defensive side of the ball will be four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Ty Law, who tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions last season.

The Chiefs ranked first in offense last season. Larry Johnson led the AFC in rushing with 1,750 yards despite starting only nine games and Trent Green threw for 4,014 yards. But offensive coordinator Al Saunders left to take the same position with the Washington Redskins.