Hey Bengals, Want to Be Taken Seriously? Beat Cleveland

Sunday's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers was a giant step in the right direction, but if the Cincinnati Bengals want to make a true statement, they must beat Cleveland this weekend on the road.

The Browns enter the game in shambles. They are fighting with their coach, fighting with each other, and have been blown out in all three games so far this season. On paper, the game appears to be a mismatch.

That's why the game is so dangerous for the Bengals. Coming off the emotional high of beating the Steelers and with a huge road game at Baltimore looming next week, the Cleveland game is the classic tweener, the kind of game that middle-of-the-road teams lose.

If the Bengals are to be taken seriously, they must beat Cleveland. Sure, ending an eight-game losing streak to the big, bad Steelers got all the press, but none of that means anything if they don't beat the Browns.

The true mark of a championship team is beating the teams you are supposed to beat. A good team will play five to seven games a season that they should win. Add those wins up, they can lead to a division title. Take away three or four, and you're left scratching your head, wondering what happened to the season.

Beating Cleveland is not as easy as it seems on paper. Not only a division foe, the Browns are also a bitter rival who have their backs against the wall. A desperate team is a dangerous team, especially against an opponent who doesn't take them seriously.

Derek Anderson will start at quarterback for the Browns Sunday, and it's the kind of decision that could have an immediate impact. Make no mistake about it, Cleveland is in serious trouble this year. But that doesn't mean that the Browns aren't capable of rising up and knocking off a Cincinnati team that suddenly fashions itself a contender.

Anderson has a big arm, but he is also capable of throwing the ball to guys in the wrong uniform, much like he did last week against Baltimore when he threw three interceptions in the second half.

But Anderson has also played well against the Bengals, and Cincinnati as a team has had a recent history of struggling against new and young quarterbacks. Anderson is neither, but he is making his first start of the season after losing a controversial quarterback derby in the preseason.

The Cleveland defense is also suspect, but Cincy's once-vaunted offense has yet to put together a full four quarters. The Bengals must attack the soft Brown secondary and control the tempo with its running game.

But the most important thing Cincinnati must do is take away Cleveland's confidence right from the snap. How do championship teams handle cellar-dwellers? They send a message, don't allow a team to hang around, and finish in the fourth quarter.

Cincinnati must do all three.

Ever since the Steeler win, Bengal fans have been clamoring to be taken seriously by the national press. Beating Cleveland will go a long way toward accomplishing that goal. But lose, and Cincinnati's right back where it started.