Back in the spring, Bills head coach Chan Gailey conceded that his defense was ahead of his offense. Early in training camp, little seemed to have changed, as the offense struggled to get anything established at St. John Fisher.

But things have taken a turn over the past two weeks. Saturday night at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the offense had its second straight encouraging performance in a 35-20 preseason win over the Bengals. With a rejuvenated Trent Edwards leading the way, the Bills' starters scored three touchdowns and displayed a level of competence rarely seen in the Dick Jauron era.

Granted, it's preseason. But Gailey is showing the wisdom of bringing in an offensive-minded head man. Remember, the starting offense didn't score a TD all last preseason. The Bills fired their offensive coordinator, Turk Schonert, as a result. Tell him preseason doesn't matter.

So things are looking up for an offense that has finished in the bottom quarter of the NFL in seven straight seasons. Gailey has given Edwards a playbook that maximizes his skills and compensates for the shortcomings of the offensive line. The line hasn't been guilty of many false starts and other nagging penalties.

A good coach puts his players in a position to succeed. We've waited five years for Roscoe Parrish to be relevant in the passing game. Gailey has found a way to get the ball to Parrish, who had four catches for 56 yards in the first half. He actually caught a crossing pattern and took it to the house!

Edwards seems to be regaining his confidence. OK, there really wasn't an "open" competition at quarterback. But Gailey had no allegiance to the guy. Evidently, he believed Edwards had the best skills among a trio of limited candidates.

"I feel like I'm just enjoying it a lot more," Edwards said. "I don't know about my confidence. I really enjoy playing with these guys. I really enjoy playing for Chan. It's fun having C.J. [Spiller] in the backfield. It's fun throwing to Lee Evans and Roscoe. It's fun winning football games. So if that leads to more confidence, then yes.

"But it's still preseason," he said. "I don't want to get ahead of myself."

Gailey still wouldn't commit to Edwards as No. 1. His actions say otherwise. Edwards has rewarded his new coach's faith with three sharp performances. He went 13 for 17 for 153 yards in one half of work, completing passes to seven receivers.

The offense has been feeding off rookie C.J. Spiller, who continued to justify the Bills' decision to draft him last spring. Spiller had a couple of negative runs early, but he used his astonishing speed to score a pair of TDs late in the first half.

The Buffalo defense is another matter. The first string has been a colossal disappointment in the preseason. They've given up two early touchdowns in each of the three exhibitions. Carson Palmer marched the Cincinnati starting offense to TDs on two of its first three possessions. Palmer was 9 for 11 for 95 yards and two touchdowns, both to wide-open receivers.

"They're still a work in progress," Gailey said, "like the offense is a work in progress and special teams are a work in progress. We've got a lot to get better at, everywhere. We did some good things, and we've got to make adjustments quicker and faster."

Palmer hit tight end Jermaine Gresham all alone in the back of the end zone for a TD on the Bengals' opening possession. The drive was abetted by a holding penalty on cornerback Drayton Florence. It was Florence and safety Donte Whitner who had boldly tweeted their intention to shut down star Bengals wideouts Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens.

Owens celebrated his return to Buffalo by catching consecutive throws from Palmer during the Bengals' second TD drive. Ochocinco scored the TD on the first play of the second quarter, finding an open spot in the left corner of the end zone and hauling in a 6-yard throw from Palmer.

The Buffalo defense has done a lot of talking lately. Whitner told one national publication the Bills had the best group of safeties in the NFL. It's all in good fun, and it's good to be confident.

But maybe they should stop running their mouths until the first unit stops somebody, or at least catches up to the offense.