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"Who-Dey, Who-Dey, Who-Dey think gonna beat them Bengals?"  Not the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens or the Cleveland Browns for that matter.  Football is back in the Queen City and the Cincinnati Bengals are better than ever.  

To the disgruntlement of Browns and Steelers fans chants of Who-Dey are now being heard once again across central and southern Ohio.  The Bengals are in line for their second winning season in two decades.  The Jungle is officially back.  The Bengals are winning with toughness and physicality never before seen by the home team at Paul Brown Stadium.  Defense and ball control have been the keys to the Bengals winning ways, so much so that the Bengals of '09 are eerily similar to...dare I say the Steelers of the past decade.  Is it just me or have the Bengals of '09 transformed into the Steelers?

The Bengals only other winning season that I can remember was the '05 team that won the AFC North before losing in the playoffs to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  That Bengals team was known for a high flying offense and a defense that forced a massive amount of turnovers.  They lived and died off turnovers and if they did not force turnovers they did not win.  In effect they were a tease.  This season's team is the complete opposite.  With so much young talent on defense, they do not need to force four turnovers to have a chance to win.  While Carson Palmer is blessed with one of the best arms in the league the Bengals strength is the running game.  Palmer does not have to throw the ball 40 times for the Bengals to be successful.  

In Cincinnati's most recent win, an 18-12 victory over Pittsburgh, Palmer was 18-30 for 178 yards.  Roethlisberger on the other hand was 20-40 for 174 yards.  The grind it out Steelers only ran the ball 18 times while the Bengals gave the Steelers a taste of their own medicine rushing the ball 29 times.  In previous years these stats were reversed, but lately the Steelers and Bengals have switched identities and I kind of like it.  

Cedric Benson pounded the vaunted Baltimore run defense for 120 yards in Week 5 and 117 more in Week 9, the first time Baltimore has given up 100 yards rushing to the same player in a season in 10 years.  Under Head Coach Marvin Lewis the Bengals are finally developing a new identity that was expected to arrive when Lewis did six years ago.  New defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer has the energy and emotion to motivate the young players on the defensive side of the ball.  This Bengals defense is fierce and hungry.  

For someone around my age this has been a long time coming.  I went from kindergarten through my sophomore year of college without my hometown Bengals having so much as a winning season.  Needless to say, when they started off fast this season I was a little apprehensive about calling them a playoff team.  Now nine games in, the playoffs are a sure thing.  For once in my life this team is different than teams from the past. This team has attitude and for once in my life I am proud to say I am a Cincinnati Bengals fan.  Now please Bengals...don't blow it.   

Tags: afc north, baltimore ravens, cincinnati bengals, cleveland browns, pittsburgh steelers, queen city, who dey