Bengals Early Bird Special: 5-2, Enough Said

In all honesty, I was expecting there to be a learning curve for Andy Dalton considering he went the entire offseason without any guidance from a coaching staff that was transitioning into a new style of offense. Sure in college Dalton looked downright amazing. But sometimes elite college quarterbacks don't always pan out in the NFL. Dalton has proven all of us wrong so far and I hope he continues his growth and development.

And as for the defense, I know Mike Zimmer is a defensive guru and all, but I wasn't expecting them to be this good. A top five defense? No, I didn't think they would be that good. After the losses of Johnathan Joseph and Dhani Jones, I expected the defense to take a minor step back despite the additions of Thomas Howard, Nate Clements, and Manny Lawson. But I'm okay with being wrong.

The offensive line has been exceptionally good this season. It seems like they finally got their vision checked and realized what they should have been doing all along, creating holes for the running attack and giving Dalton time to make accurate passes.

Hopefully this the real deal and not just some sort of fluke. In the upcoming weeks the Bengals will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, and Houston Texans. Each of those teams have been exceptionally good this season and will present a challenge for the Bengals.

If the Bengals are able to come out with a winning record during those five games then it will demonstrate that they are able to hang with some of the tougher, more fortified teams in the league. But if they somehow manage to go winless then expect the criticism of an easy schedule entering the picture again. 

Alright here is a look at what you may have missed or overlooked from Monday.

• Check out this weeks Monday Touchdown.
• Hurry up and toss in your idea for the week eight Caption Contest and it's time to vote for the bye week Caption Contest.
• For all of you statistic junkies, here are both sides of the statistical coin from the Bengals game against the Seahawks.
• Jermaine Gresham was inactive for Sunday's game against Seattle. It was because he wasn't comfortable with his "tweaked" hamstring.
• With Cedric Benson returning to the active roster, the Bengals have been given a two-day roster exemption as they sort out what their next player transaction will be.
• Despite their hot start, there is still skepticism around the league about the Bengals and their "easy" schedule. However, when you look at it, that argument is flawed.
• There were moments on Sunday where the Bengals defense looked as if it was finally going to crumble, but they never did. The defense stepped up when it needed to, which was key to fueling their victory.
• Another factor that helped seal Cincinnati's win over Seattle was the play from the Bengals special teams.
• According to Dan Pompei of the National Football Post, Andrew Whitworth might be the best left tackle in all of football.
• The Bengals continue to climb the power rankings as Peter King ranks the Bengals a respectable tenth in the NFL.
• It's time for the Bengals to make a statement since they have won the games that they're suppose to win.