WHO-DEY! Bengals Win Streak at Four

Andy Dalton has the Bengals at 5-2 in his first NFL season.
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

During a TV timeout Sunday, Bengals tackle Andrew Whitworth was approached by the head referee and he nodded to one of the Bengal players. "He's pretty special, isn't he?" Withworth recalled and later said, "He could see his attitude. How he was having fun and enjoying it. He's amazing. He did everything he had to and this is a place that is as loud as it gets." Courtesy Geoff Hobson.

The Bengal the referee is referring to is rookie QB Andy Dalton. Dalton is the leader of a Bengals team that has won four in a row, 5-2 overall, and tied for Baltimore for second in the AFC North only a half-game behind Pittsburgh.

Cincinnati did not play their best game of the year on Sunday, but it was enough to beat the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle for the first time since 1994 and it was their first West Coast win since 2003.

Fans in Cincinnati are buzzing about this team and finally, the rest of the nation is starting to catch on. Sports Illustrated's Peter King in his Monday Morning Quarterback:

Ten truths as we head to November.
8. Andy Dalton has more wins (five) than Philip Rivers, Mike Vick, Tony Romo, Jay Cutler, Matt Ryan or Josh Freeman.

Fine Fifteen
10. Cincinnati (5-2). The Bengals are 3-1 on the road. Andy Dalton is 5-2 as an NFL quarterback. Those are two of the most surprising things about the first half of the season. Misleading stat of the week, by the way: The Bengals win at Seattle by 22 and get outgained by 159-yards.

Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders has the Bengals as the most impressive team in the AFC North. ESPN is impressed. ESPN's John Clayton gave Brandon Tate a game ball. Lance McAlister is beside himself and he has even more on his blog. Mo Egger said that Bengals would win 5 games and he was right, great stuff on his blog as well. It great to see finally see the Bengals getting some national media attention, because they certainly have earned it.

I know it's still early to talk about Jim Mora's favorite thing, Playoffs???, but the fact of the matter is, if the season ended today the Cincinnati Bengals would be in the playoffs.

Marvin Lewis deserves a lot of the credit
for Cincinnati's 5-2 start and he is certainly
an NFL Coach of the Year candidate.
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

The road gets a lot tougher from here on out as the Bengals season continues. According to Cincinnati.com's Joe Reedy, the Bengals October opponents, in which they were 4-0, were a combined 9-19. In November, their opponents are 18-11 and in December/January, 18-19. Tennessee, Pittsburgh twice, Cleveland, Baltimore, and Houston are in the next six weeks, so we will soon find out if the Bengals are as good as they've looked so far in 2011.

The Bengals head to Tennessee next week, where they will be looking for their fifth win in a row and sixth of the season.

Bengals fans have enjoyed watching a very good football team this year and no matter how the rest of the season turns out, I'd say it's been a success. Marvin Lewis has done a fantastic job and I think this is his the best group of players he has ever assembled as Bengals head coach.
Here's a look at the AFC North standings and now for the Week 8 Edition of "Holy Crap" and "C'mon Man" performances.

2011 AFC North STANDINGS

TEAM	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Pittsburgh	6	2	0	.750	176	139
Cincinnati	5	2	0	.714	171	123
Baltimore	5	2	0	.714	185	110
Cleveland	3	4	0	.429	107	140

"HOLY CRAP" PERFORMERS

QB Eli Manning, Giants: Eli was 31/45 for 349-yds and 2 TD in the Giants come from behind 20-17 win over the woeful Dolphins. New York is 5-2 and looking good atop the NFC East.

QB Cam Newton and WR Steve Smith, Panthers: Carolina may be 2-6, but none of their losses this season have been because of Cam Newton and Steve Smith. Newton was 22/35 for 290-yds and 3 TD passing and he rushed for 53-yards on six carries. Newton also hooked up with WR Steve Smith seven times for 100-yds including a 22-yard touchdown.

WR Anquan Boldin, RB Ray Rice, LB Terrell Suggs; Ravens: Arizona did not have an answer for the Baltimore Ravens in the second half on Sunday. Down 24-6 at halftime, the Ravens came all the way back to win on a game winning 25-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff as time expired. Anquan Boldin caught seven passes for 145-yds and was unguardable. Ray Rice ran for 63-yds, he caught seven passes for 36-yds, and he rushed for 3 TD. The defense only gave up 207-yds of offense in large part to Suggs' 13 total tackles, including four tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.

RB Arian Foster, Texans: With 33 carries for 112-yds and a touchdown on Sunday, Foster has now rushed for 227-yds and has 4 total TD in the last two weeks.

Buffalo Bills Defense: The Bills are for real and so is their defense. Buffalo allowed just 178-yards of total offense Sunday against Washington, they recorded nine sacks, and forced nine turnovers in a 23-0 shutout win.

Detroit Lions: After losing two straight, the Lions pounded Denver 45-10, in which QB Matthew Stafford was 21/30 for 267-yards and he threw 3 TD. WR Calvin Johnson had six receptions for 125-yards and a touchdown also.

Pittsburgh Steelers Defense: Going into Week 8, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots had the league's top offense, but they managed just 17 points and 213-yds of offense Sunday against the Pittsburgh defense. Brady has torched the Steelers in the past, but defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau changed things up on Brady this week and it resulted in a Steelers victory.

RB Frank Gore, 49ers: Gore is having an MVP caliber season for the surprise San Francisco 49ers, who improved to 6-1 on Sunday, and now have a comfortable four game lead in the division. Since only gaining 42-yds against the Bengals in Week 3, Frank Gore has rushed for 527-yds and 4 TD in the last four weeks.

RB LeSean McCoy, Eagles: The "Dream Team" is on a winning streak and McCoy ran all over the Cowboys Sunday night, rushing for 185-yds and 2 TD.

LB DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys:11 total tackles, 10 of them solo, five tackles for loss including four sacks. Ware is having another great season and he just continues to prove week in and week out, that he is one of the league's best defensive players.

"Holy Crap" Performance of the Week
St. Louis Rams: Upset of the season??? After getting steamrolled by the Cowboys, the Rams faced a big test this week against a New Orleans team that put up 62 points last Monday night. The Rams were without QB Sam Bradford and many thought they didn't stand a chance. But with the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in the building, they upset the Saints 31-21. Behind six sacks from the defense, three from Chris Long, and 159-yds and 2 TD from RB Steven Jackson, the Rams shocked the Saints.

"C'MON MAN" PERFORMANCES

Arizona Cardinals: Arizona failed to hold on to a 24-6 halftime lead and lost in Baltimore 30-27, and fell to 1-6. With the 49ers 6-1, Arizona's chances of making the playoffs are basically over.

QB Blaine Gabbert, Jaguars: It's been a tough rookie season for Gabbert and his struggles continued against the Texans. He was just 10/30 for 97-yds, including a touchdown, two interceptions and a QB rating of 26.7.

Washington Redskins: Washington was shutout 23-0 in Toronto against Buffalo on Sunday and they now have lost three straight by a combined score of 76-33. They also gave up nine sacks to a Bills team that had just four all season going into the game. After starting the season 3-1, the Redskins are now 3-4 and fading fast.

QB Tim Tebow, Broncos: Tim Tebow the Denver Broncos were thrown to the Lions on Sunday and it didn't end well. Tebow was 18/39 for 172-yds, one touchdown, and he rushed for 63-yards, but he turned the ball over twice, and was inaccurate throughout.

One of Tebow's three fumbles was returned 24-yards by Cliff Avril for a touchdown and Chris Houston picked him off in the endzone and returned it 100-yards for a score. Tebowwas also sacked seven times, which begs the question, how much longer will John Elway and John Fox have Tim Tebow as the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos?

RB Marshawn Lynch, Seahawks: Lynch and the Seahawks had absolutely no success running the football against the Bengals. Lynch carried the ball 16 times for a pathetic 24-yds and a touchdown.

Dallas Defense: Before the season, defensive coordinator Rob Ryan questioned just how good the Eagles are and mentioned how the Cowboys would beat them when the meet this season. Dallas came in with the league's best run defense, but they were run out of the building on Sunday night. The Cowboys gave up 239-yards on the ground and allowed Philadelphia to score on their first six possessions, in a 34-7 romp.

"C'mon Man" Performance of the Week
QB Philip Rivers, Chargers: Many thought Philip Rivers would put up MVP like numbers this season and maybe even throw for 5,000-yards, but that has not been the case this season. Rivers had another poor game Monday night, in which he was 26/41 for 369-yds, two interceptions, and he fumbled a snap late in the fourth quarter.

All he had to do was get the snap, take a knee, and the Chargers could have kicked the game winning field goal. Instead, the Chiefs recovered the ball and won in overtime forcing a three way tie in the AFC West. If the Chargers are to make it to the playoffs, it will be because of  number 17 and Rivers has to play better and he has to stop turning the football over.