Bengals Look Like Bona Fide Contenders

As a long season wears down, it’s easy to nitpick at teams—to find every little crack and magnify every mistake.

It’s no different when it comes to the NFL Draft or presidential elections.

After a while, it’s easy to find reasons why a team can't win rather than why it can win.

In the Bengals' case, they improved to 9-3 on the season with a 23-13 win over Detroit on Sunday. While the game was hardly a blowout, Cincinnati was never truly threatened after the first quarter and dominated the Lions in all three phases of the game.

What the nitpickers will focus on is the continued struggles of quarterback Carson Palmer, who, other than a few times this season, hasn't looked like the gunslinger he was before his elbow injury. The defense also gave up two big passes to the Lions’ Calvin Johnson, leading to both of Detroit's scores.

However, what gets overlooked when the nitpicking begins is the fact that the Bengals won once again—their ninth win in 12 games. And they did it the same way they won the previous eight: by controlling the tempo of the game and hammering an opponent into submission.

Running back Cedric Benson came back after two games off due to injury and went over 100 yards for the fifth time this season. Chad OchoCinco tortured the Lions' soft zone defense, and Palmer hit the passes when he needed them.

On the other side of the ball, the Bengals stiffened after a rough start to shut the Lions down over the rest of the game.

Of course, the win came against Detroit—one of the worst teams in the league—but in the NFL, a win is a win. The Lions may not be a powerhouse, but they are still professionals and a win on the road would have been huge for their season.

If there is something to worry about, it’s that the Bengals have a disturbing tendency to play down to their competition. The same team that swept Baltimore and Pittsburgh, crushed Chicago, and beat Green Bay on the road has lost to Houston and Oakland, and allowed Cleveland (twice) and Detroit to hang around.

But the bottom line is that the Bengals are in the driver’s seat—not only for the North Division title but also for the AFC’s No. 2 seed.

A win at Minnesota next week will go a long way toward silencing the critics.