Doc: Bengals making it look easy

The Bengals would like to remind you it's only four games, and four games mean nothing in the NFL, unless they're played in January. The players have been so spectacularly brainwashed, er, trained by Marvin Lewis, they refuse to let their giddiness show. Even as giddiness is the theme of the day.

You have to seek it out. Such as taking note when Andy Dalton signals first down after his eight-yard scramble in the fourth quarter of a decisive 36-21 win over visiting Kansas City. That sort of unseemly and brazen show of naked self-promotion (insert LOLs here) would never have occurred in the previous four years with Dalton, who outwardly owned the demeanor of a retired Civics teacher.

Analysis: Why the Bengals beat the Chiefs

Nor would Dalton have dared say this, in explanation:

"It felt right to help the refs out.'' That's a good one. It really is.

There was Good Andy and there was Bad Andy. Now there is New Andy.

Dalton reaching unprecedented run

In working over the Chiefs, the Bengals offense showed more dash and flexibility than it had in its previous three games. And in those previous three, the offense was more flexible than Gumby. Surely, someone would take this bait, offered by yours truly to several players, postgame:

"If you are playing efficiently, do you have too many pieces for most defenses to handle?''

This was after Dalton had checked in with 321 passing yards, and a QB Rating of 127.1, after both running backs had scored and after Brandon Tate had made a brilliant diving catch of a Dalton bomb at the KC 2, then gotten up to score.

It might be obvious to the rest of the world that the answer to the above question would be a giddy "Hell, yeah.'' Instead, the best I got was "It might be,'' from Marvin Jones. Jeremy Hill (three TDs) gave it the old quasi-amateur try: "I think we create matchup problems. When you have (good) matchups like that, you're at an advantage every play, because they don't know what you're doing.''

Speaking of Brandon Tate:

Brandon Tate?

You are Kris Richard, the rookie defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, and you are watching a pile of video of the Bengals offense.

"A.J. Green. Oh, man,'' you say.

"Marvin Jones, Mo Sanu and the Eifert kid. Jeez. Hill and Gio Bernard. Smash and flash.'' You curse Andy Dalton and reach for the Advil, and that's when you see Brandon Tate hauling in the 55-yard TD toss from a scrambling New Andy. "Oh, my,'' you say, perhaps in not quite those words.

There wasn't a player in the home locker room who wasn't expansively happy for Tate, who returns kicks and watches Green be Green. In other outposts, Tate might be a starting wideout. He'd certainly get more snaps than he gets here. But he stays here, to mentor Green and lead cheers.

"The ultimate pro,'' Green said of Tate. "I learn a lot from him. How I need to practice. How I can run routes better. He has a great eye for the game. He's going to be a coach someday.''

Said Hill, "You watched the sideline. We were all going crazy. For him to make that play just lifted everyone up.''

Bengals notes: Reaction to 4-0 start, Hill lets off steam

This is how good teams build mojo. Everyone shines, everyone is happy for everyone who shines, nobody feels neglected or overlooked. You don't think Tate will have a glide in his stride this week?

"That's how you win,'' Michael Johnson explained. "All for one, one for all.''

Tate's TD grab put the Bengals ahead 21-12. Or in parlance the Chiefs and their fans might understand better, 21-to-four-field goals. If you only looked at statistics and not the game, you'd have thought KC was competitive, which is why you should never look at statistics and not the game.

Alex Smith threw for 386 yards, the Chiefs had 461 yards of offense and just one turnover. They held the ball for almost 37 minutes. And after the first half, they were never in the game. Their horizontal passing game is the best in the league, as is their awesome ability to make field goals.

It got ridiculous in the fourth quarter. Kansas City trailed by 11 with 9:32 left, and kicked a field goal on 4th and 10 from the Bengals 11. The Chiefs were down 18 seven minutes later and kicked another field goal. Some teams play not to lose. On Sunday, Kansas City played not to lose too badly.

But we digress. The Bengals are 4-0 and looking every bit of it. They made a big deposit in the confidence bank Sunday. They have reason to be giddy, even though the schedule in the next four weeks includes Seattle and roadies at Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

Leave it to the newly eloquent Dalton to offer the last word:

"(We're) confident and comfortable with what we're doing. The game's fun.''