Bengals finding their roar again

Somebody break up the Cincinnati Bengals. Oh wait, Corey Dillon has already tried, but to no avail. The revived inhabitants of the otherwise dormant AFC North sit at 3-4 and have won back to back games for the first time since the first two games of the 2001 season.

The aforementioned Dillon missed the game after he and his wife were in a car accident on their way to the Paul Brown Stadium for the match-up with the Seahawks. The timing is very eye-catching, seeing as the car mishap happened in the same week in which Dillon requested to be traded to the Dallas Cowboys. And there is no word as of yet whether Dillon intentionally got in the wreck to avoid having to play with the Bengals.

But deadbeat running backs aside, these have turned out not to be your father's, or even your own, "Bungles". While 3-4 is hardly a record to write home about, two big home wins against the division rival Baltimore Ravens and the resurgent Seattle Seahawks have Cincinnatians singing the praises of new head coach and defensive guru Marvin Lewis.

On Sunday, third year castoff Rudi Johnson got the start with Dillon out, and he filled in admirably to the tune of 101 yards and one touchdown. Additionally, the receiving tandem of Chad Johnson (three catches, 84 yards, one TD) and Peter Warrick (remember him? -- five catches, 61 yards, one sick 50 yard reverse) have announced their collective presence with authority. Add a stalwart defensive end in Justin Smith and the recently serviceable Jon Kitna (19-31, 240 yards, two touchdowns on Sunday) and you have yourself a contender.

Elsewhere in the perennial cellar-dweller category, the Arizona Cardinals showed signs of life on Sunday in a 16-13 slugfest with the now 3-5 San Francisco 49ers. With Bill Gramatica of the Kicking Gramatica's out of the lineup, replacement Tim Duncan filled in with a triple double, or actually a triple triple, as his three field goals paced the Cards.

Another blessing in disguise for the Cardinals may have been the shoulder blade injury Emmitt Smith suffered three weeks ago in Dallas. While an injury to one of the all time greats can not be applauded, it has paved the way for Marcel Shipp to have what feels like his eighth coming out party. He was a work horse on Sunday, to the tune of 35 carries for 165 yards. Here's hoping that even when Smith gets healthy, the job stays with Shipp.

The Minnesota Vikings were knocked from the ranks of undefeated with a 29-17 home loss to the now 3-4 New York Football Giants. In a must win game for the G-men, they finally learned that turnovers are not stylish. Even given Randy Moss' torching of Giant cornerback Will Allen (seven grabs, 125 yards, two TD's), New York was more than able to compensate as Kerry Collins and his band of receivers simply went off. Collins threw for 375 yards and two touchdowns with Ike Hilliard, Amani Toomer and Jeremy Shockey getting the bulk of the action.

Two more things: What a way for the Steelers to celebrate 1,000 games; by moving to 2-5 with no hope in site after a tough 33-21 loss to the St. Louis Rams in Marc Bulger's homecoming. Again their rushing attack was dismal, with neither Jerome Bettis nor Amos Zereoue mustering much in the way of yardage. At this point, the Steelers are hoping that Antwaan Randle El and Hines Ward can play other positions, because hope is in short supply in the Steel City.

And how 'bout those New England Patriots. Call it winning ugly, but how can you explain a 6-2 team that is really nowhere to be found at the top of any statistical category? With almost half the preseason defensive starters out, this is Bill Belicheck's stamp: systems win, not players. It became even clearer after the 9-3 ho-hum affair with the Cleveland Browns. His cutting of Lawyer Milloy doesn't look so suspect right now.