By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

TEMPE, Ariz. - During their 12-year playoff drought, the Bengals have reached the halfway point at .500 once.

The 2001 team was 4-3 before losing seven in a row.

The 2003 Bengals have a chance to reach 4-4 today with a victory at Arizona. A Bengals win coupled with a Baltimore loss at home against Jacksonville would move Cincinnati into a first-place tie in the AFC North.

"We didn't get off to the start we wanted to," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "We've climbed back out of that hole, and this is another big step against a good team on the road."

The Bengals started 0-3 under Lewis - typical of Cincinnati teams in the past 12 years - but they've won three of four since.

A victory today would be the third in a row for the Bengals. The last three-game win streak came after the 1999 team had started 1-10.

Bengals playoff hopes consistently have been dashed in the first half of the season during the postseason dry spell.

In beating Seattle last Sunday, the Bengals completed a 2-1 record for October, marking the franchise's first winning record in that month since 1989.

This Bengals team, players say, is different than even the one that was 4-3 in 2001.

One of the reasons is the major roster turnover since opening day 2002; 25 players on the 53-man roster are new.

Quarterback Jon Kitna started 15 games for the 2001 team, which reached 4-3 with a 31-27 victory at Detroit on Oct. 28, 2001. And it was a team filled with draft choices who had never experienced playoff contention.

"I remember guys coming up to me (saying), 'I've never been 4-3, I've never been 2-0,' " Kitna said. "I'm new and I'm like, 'What are you talking about? Not only are we 4-3, we should be 6-1 if it wasn't for ourselves.'

"But the good thing that Marvin does is he talks about it. ... This team expects to win every time out."

A division title is the goal.

"We've got to go to Arizona and work our tails off to win this game and come back and make what we've done the previous weeks worthwhile," Lewis said.

The Bengals defeated the Ravens and Seahawks at Paul Brown Stadium. After Arizona, the Bengals will come back to Cincinnati to play Houston and Kansas City.

Bengals fans realistically can envision a team that's 5-4 with Kansas City coming to town. No Bengals team has won four in a row since 1989.

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