Gregg Rosenthal

The Bengals are not only the best team in the AFC North — they are the toughest.

Cincinnati watched Pittsburgh and Baltimore dominate the division over the last three years with defense, running, more defense, and timely quarterback play. Now the Bengals have mastered the formula and they are the division’s best at winning ugly. Their 18-12 TKO in Pittsburgh was a thing of beauty because they didn’t even need an offensive touchdown.

They won without Cedric Benson, the team’s MVP who was limited to one carry in the final 44 minutes because of a hip injury. They won with 29 receiving yards from Chad Ochocinco, and a B- game from Carson Palmer. Mike Zimmer’s defense didn’t let Ben Roethlisberger slip out of pressure, sacking him four times and pressuring him into countless more incompletions.

When the Bengals needed to chew up some clock in the fourth quarter, they did it with Brian Leonard and Bernard Scott toting the rock. That’s a sign that the Bengals were simply more physical than the Steelers up front.

The ceiling has been blown off Cincinnati’s Cinderella season. The Bengals own the tiebreaker over Pittsburgh in the division, essentially putting them up two games with seven to play. Cincy’s next three opponents have won four games combined.

The Bengals can start dreaming about a lot more than a division title now.

Sunday slippage
Would-be playoff contenders didn't fare well.

Atlanta’s defense doesn’t look like a unit that can make it into January and Matt Ryan is struggling. They dropped to 5-4 with a division loss in Carolina. Denver’s loss in Washington sets up a showdown for the AFC West with San Diego next week. The Jets season is just about over after a home loss to Jacksonville. They face New England next week. In a season without parity, these teams are slipping towards the middle.

A Titan among men
Can Chris Johnson be a MVP candidate on a 3-6 team? Consider the numbers. Johnson topped 200 yards from scrimmage for the third time this year against Buffalo with 132 on the ground, 100 through the air, and two touchdowns to boot. (On one, he ran over a defender on a goal line play. Kid has power too!)

Video   King's Notebook: Week 10 Nov. 15: Peter King and Dan Patrick discuss the week's biggest NFL stories, including Cincinnati's impressive defense and Carolina's resurgence.

Every fantasy owner’s dream is averaging 6.4 yards per carry and is on pace to break the all-time record for yards from scrimmage. (He’s on pace for 1,940 rushing yards and 754 receiving.) Forget the Marshall Faulk or Barry Sanders comparisons; Johnson is one of a kind.

Broncos need a new back-up plan
Chris Simms is one of the league's best-paid backup quarterbacks, but he played like the absolute worst one Sunday. This was a sub-JaMarcus level of performance. The Broncos were dominating Washington everywhere but the scoreboard at halftime when Kyle Orton was forced to leave the game with an ankle injury. Simms came in and completed three of 13 passes with an interception for 13 yards. Whatever the opposite of composure is, that’s what Simms had.

Denver gave up a long fake punt touchdown, but the defense still wore down in the second half for the third straight week. That’s a concern. A bigger concern is Simms; the Broncos are unlikely to win next week against the Chargers if Orton doesn’t get healthy.

Jets’ defense can’t do it all
The Jets defense shut out Jacksonville for nearly the entire second half Sunday. That allowed Mark Sanchez and Thomas Jones to score 12 unanswered points to put the Jets up 22-21 with just under five minutes to go. Jacksonville proceeded to go on a season-defining drive, holding the ball until Josh Scobee kicked the game winning field goal with time expired. The drive defined the Jets season.

The defense is great, but they can only carry the team so much. Rex Ryan’s favorite unit has found a way to lose when the chips are down too often.