Bengals Banter: Steelers Midweek Edition - Everyone's on the bandwagon

The last time we played the Steelers, we dealt Ben Roethlisberger his first loss in Ohio in his pro career. This week, Carson Palmer will look to improve upon his 2-2 record against the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Here's a quick look at what the national media are saying about the Bengals this week.

• Pete Prisco heaps praise onto the Bengals, as they're up to #5 in the CBS Sports power rankings, one spot ahead of divisional rival Pittsburgh. This weekend's contest obviously is extremely important given the identical records of these two clubs and the division implications. Bengals win, and the division is theirs to lose.
• ESPN hails two big games this week, the Bengals game and the NE-Indy game. Both are certainly high-hype games, but you've got to love the divisional rivalry at Heinz this weekend. Even ESPN ought to know that. We're up to #4 in their rankings.
• Don Banks at SI.com gives the Bengals some props. First, he acknowledges that the AFC North is the best division in football. Then, he calls the Bengals the bounce-back team of the year, and even goes so far as to claim that Marvin Lewis is the mid-season coach of the year. Hard to argue with that - this turnaround is even better than the first year under Lewis, when the Bengals went from 2-14 to 8-8. Banks also acknowledges that Chad Ochocinco is a good teammate!
  

• Joe Kay of the Enquirer writes that the Bengals are in "beast mode," sub-head "Team running, playing D like AFC North foes." The last time the defense was this good was 2001. The running game has arguably never been so effective. The Bengals have the second-best rush defense in the league!

• C. Trent wrote a nice piece about Maurice Purify for CNati.com. Purify says he loves to block, and thinks of himself of a possession receiver. Sound like anyone we know? If you wanna watch Purify blow up Roy Williams, read this story.
• Have I mentioned how much I love Mike Zimmer? In case you aren't, or if you just want to read about our beloved defensive coordinator (that I hope we lock up for 5 years), here's another bit from C. Trent highlighting his awesomeness. A snippet: "That's how the Bengals have played on defense - fast, furious and smart. And that goes back to their leader. "ZIm's the greatest, he's one of the best coaches I've been around," Ndukwe said."

Enjoy, Jungle. Happy humpday!