If there were any question about who is going to be the starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, it should be put to rest now.

Trent Edwards probably cemented the job with another efficient performance in the Bills' 35-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals at Ralph Wilson Stadium Saturday night.

 A Kids Day crowd of 57,867 was entertained by a Bills offense that seems to have smoothed over any rough edges from its poor showing in the preseason opener at Washington two weeks ago.

No one has exemplified the offensive improvement more than Edwards, who has rallied nicely from his poor outing against the Redskins.

Head coach Chan Gailey insists the quarterback job is an open competition, and wouldn't officially name a starter after the game. But does he really have to considering how well Edwards is playing?

In his third straight start, Edwards completed 13 of 17 passes for 153 yards and led three touchdown-scoring drives in six first-half possessions. He finished with a 122.9 rating.

"He's earned the right to be in the position he's in right now," Gailey said. "We're still evaluating everybody. As they continue to play, they continue to get better. If everybody continues to get better, it'll probably end up like it is. I still want to reserve the right to make an evaluation, though."

Rookie running back C.J. Spiller was dynamic again, running for 52 yards and a pair of touchdowns. But it was the Edwards-led air attack that allowed Spiller to flourish on the ground.

The Bills have scored five touchdowns in the last two games with Edwards under center.

"I don't want to get too ahead of myself, but I feel like we're finding our rhythm," said Edwards, who was 5 of 8 for 93 yards and a touchdown against Indianapolis last week. "We're starting to get in sync, starting to get a little more accurate with some throws and we're starting to hit some holes a little bit harder. I thought we did a lot of the little things correct tonight, and if we can do that in the regular season I think we'll be able to win some football games."

The Bills' first possession ended when right tackle Cornell Green was beaten for a sack by Bengals defensive end Jonathan Fanene. The second drive began with Spiller being chased out of bounds for an 11-yard loss. But Edwards rallied the offense with five straight completions to four receivers, including a 12-yard TD strike to Roscoe Parrish, who beat linebacker Dhani Jones on a crossing route.

The Bills' next scoring drive saw Edwards complete passes of 28 yards to Parrish and a 16-yard screen to fullback Corey McIntyre to set up a 1-yard touchdown by Spiller.

"They were playing the run very hard to start with," Gailey said. "After we saw that, we figured we had to throw it a bunch to soften them up a little bit, and I thought we were able to do that."

 Spiller had three plays of 20-plus yards. Two came on the Bills' last possession of the first half. He caught a screen pass, picked up a good block by left guard Andy Levitre and sprinted downfield for a 26-yard gain.

With the Bengals thinking pass on the next play, Spiller took the handoff, sliced through a hole on the left side, picked up a downfield block from receiver Lee Evans and outran the pursuit for a 20-yard touchdown.

 "I just saw that it was wide open," said Spiller, who added a 6-yard gain out of the wildcat formation. "Our offensive line did a great job blocking and I always know I'm going to have to beat the safety, so I just gave him a move and Lee did a great job out there blocking on Pacman [Jones] and it just made it easy.

 "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."

 Meanwhile, the Bills' starting defense had trouble with the Bengals' first-team offense while quarterback Carson Palmer was in the game. Palmer completed 9 of 11 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns on Cincy's first three possessions.

Three of his completions went to former Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens and two to Chad Ochocinco, whose night included a touchdown. Rookie tight end Jermaine Gresham caught four passes for 45 yards and a touchdown.

"They're still a work in progress, like offense is a work in progress, and special teams, we're a work in progress," Gailey said. "We've got a lot to get better at, everywhere."

 The Bills' backup defenders had a better night than the starters, holding the Bengals' reserves to three points.

Cornerback Reggie Corner got the team's second defensive touchdown in as many games, returning an interception 20 yards for the Bills' final points. The backup defense also had a nice stand near its goal line by stopping a Bengals drive on downs.

The Bills' other touchdown was a 20-yard pass to rookie receiver David Nelson from quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was 6 of 9 for 77 yards while playing well into the fourth quarter. Brian Brohm played the last two series and threw one incomplete pass.

"We did some good things, but it's still a preseason game," Edwards said. "There's still going to be some mistakes on tape, there is still a ton of room for corrections and we need to do a good job of not getting too high over a win like this. We need to come back on Monday and fix the mistakes we made and move on to the [Detroit] Lions on Thursday."