Bengals' Dalton's gang in contention

What looked improbable at the start of the season is gaining momentum by the week. The Cincinnati Bengals allegedly were in the midst of a rebuilding period after the promising Carson Palmer-Chad Ochocinco era came crashing to an end. Instead, under the guidance of longtime coach Marvin Lewis and with a rookie quarterback in Andy Dalton, they are poised to make a playoff push after a 23-20 win over Cleveland last week. “This is a remarkable story. I really thought this team had a shot at the first overall pick in the draft,” NBC football analyst Cris Collinsworth said. “They had a new offensive coordinator. They had a rookie quarterback in Andy Dalton. They had a rookie wide receiver in A.J. Green. It is all falling together in a remarkable way. It now looks like we may well see three teams out of the AFC North going into the playoffs.”

Cincinnati can make an emphatic statement with a game at Pittsburgh this weekend. If that doesn’t work, the Bengals also face Houston and Baltimore at home. All three of those teams should qualify for the postseason. But they still might need to take at least one of those difficult games. Cincinnati sits at No. 6 in the AFC — the final playoff spot — with a 7-4 record. Denver, Tennessee and the New York Jets are all one game back at 6-5. Better than the alternative, of course, which is what everyone expected for 2011. It also helps that games against St. Louis and Arizona remain on the schedule.