Bell: Young Bengals picking up playoff steam

• High-riding Bengals could be on cusp of playoff return
• Aldon Smith could put his name on more than one page of record book
• Home field in playoffs might mean more to Ravens than most teams

Mention the last time the Cincinnati Bengals faced the San Diego Chargers, nearly two years ago, and Andrew Whitworth chuckles. The Bengals put a 34-20 thumping on the visitors Dec. 26, 2010, dousing the Chargers' hopes for the playoffs.

As the Bengals head into Sunday's game at San Diego carrying playoff hopes of their own, the grizzled left tackle is a bit amused when considering just how much has changed in just two seasons.

This hits home in the offensive line meeting room, when the seventh-year pro can't simply utter "remember the last time" and leave it at that.

"Most of the time, when I look around the room to see if anybody remembers, they don't," Whitworth said. "It's a strange feeling."

Whitworth will start his 62nd consecutive game on Sunday, representing the longest-such current streak on the team. He's the rock of an O-line that has been refashioned like much of the team, with a rookie starting at right guard (Kevin Zeitler), and a second-year pro at left guard (Clint Boling). Center Jeff Faine has been around, in his 10th NFL campaign, but he's in his first season with Cincinnati.

Says Whitworth, "It'll be pretty much a whole new offensive line this time."

Amid all the rebuilding, the Bengals (6-5) are hot with a three-game winning streak. They have averaged 31 points per game since Week 10 (third-best in the NFL during that span) behind a passing game sparked by a pair of second-year pros, quarterback Andy Dalton and wideout A.J. Green. Dalton has thrown nine TDs (with no picks) during the past three games. Green is tied with New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski for the NFL lead with 10 receiving TDs.

The defense, meanwhile, is developing with young impact players, too, including third-year tackle Geno Atkins and fourth-year linebacker Rey Maualuga. Atkins is tied for sixth in the league with nine sacks, more than any interior lineman.

They are growing up fast, entering the final month of the season in the thick of the hunt for an AFC wild-card berth with the Indianapolis Colts (7-4) and Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5).

Are they ready to withstand the pressure of a playoff push?

"You never know until we get into these situations," Whitworth says. "The games will get more pressure-filled as we go. A lot of times, seasons are defined by what happens after Thanksgiving. So we'll see.

"The cool thing is, the truth is, these young guys are going to get better every game. But until you prove it, that can go one way or another."

This isn't the first time this season that the Bengals have had a three-game winning streak. After getting crushed in a Monday night opener by the Baltimore Ravens, they rebounded to win the rest of their September games. Yet they followed that surge with a four-game losing skid. You can wonder if such a reversal can happen again now, with a tough schedule ahead and all the playoff ramifications.

After Sunday's game, the Bengals will host the Dallas Cowboys and visit the Philadelphia Eagles for a Thursday nighter. They close out with back-to-back AFC North challenges at Pittsburgh and against the Ravens.

Whitworth believes his team is better equipped than it was earlier this season to avoid a prolonged stumble.

"We kind of lived a little off our ability earlier in the year, and I think we started to feel really good about ourselves when we had that first winning streak," Whitworth said. "That's a lesson we had to learn. The coolest thing about this now is that all of the wins have been complete wins, with the offense, defense and special teams playing well. That's the difference."

A few weeks ago, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis made it a point to publicly call out a couple of his young stars, Dalton and Maualuga, imploring them to exert more leadership. Whitworth says he hasn't seen much of a change with the quarterback and middle linebacker, whom he considers lead-by-example types. But Lewis may have struck nerves with for more far-reaching impact.

"It was kind of really a call to the whole team," said Whitworth. "Everybody needs to be accountable. Andy and Rey are the guys who will lead this team, but I think the real message was that all the guys need to step up."

Whitworth, with all of his experience, demonstrated some of his leadership last week during the victory against the Oakland Raiders. He was ejected after getting involved in a scuffle that began when Lamarr Houston dumped Dalton to the turf after a play was whistled dead. After peace was restored, Whitworth stirred up the crowd at Paul Brown Stadium with a WWF-like pose before heading to an early shower.

It was his way of demonstrating that he was proud to get tossed since it meant having the back of his quarterback.

"Sometimes, as a leader for a young team, you have to send a message," he said. "My thing was, we're not going to let people take a free shot on our quarterback. Sometimes, you have to draw the line in the sand."

You can believe that Whitworth has received plenty of reaction since that incident. At midweek, teammates were still giving him props.

"Really, I think more defensive guys have told me, 'That moment was awesome,' than anybody," he said. "I think things like that bring us all closer together as a team. Guys can rally around that stuff."

That and the playoff hunt looming as an ultimate test.

Also in play for Week 13

Who's hot — Aldon Smith: Every big-time defense needs a prolific pass rusher. And for the San Francisco 49ers' second-ranked unit, the second-year Missouri product fits the bill. Since the sack became an official NFL statistic in 1982, no player has tallied 30 career sacks faster than the outside linebacker. Smith, who leads the NFL with 16½ sacks and has 30½ career sacks, hit the milestone in 27 games. With his next sack, he would surpass Reggie White's mark (31) for most sacks by a player in his first two seasons. And while he's at it, Smith can also legitimately aim at the single-season record set by Michael Strahan (22½ in 2001).

Pressure's on — Mike Munchak: When the second-year Tennessee Titans coach gave offensive coordinator Chris Palmer the boot last week, it may have underscored the urgency to develop a contender. It might have also been a sacrifice, with Munchak serving up a scapegoat for the issues at hand. A few weeks ago, Titans owner Bud Adams was so disenchanted by his team's showing during a blowout loss at home to the Chicago Bears he bolted early — and grumbled about it. The message was clear: Everyone is on notice. There are seemingly no promises that Adams will stick with his head coach for the long run. Munchak, a Hall of Fame guard for the franchise, knows Adams well. And he knows that the owner is antsy to field a contender. Now comes the tough task of defeating the Houston Texans, who will bring an AFC-best 10-1 mark to LP Field on Sunday. A poor showing could incite Adams further. He still lives in Houston, and the success of the Texans is right in his face. The new offensive coordinator, Dowell Loggains, will likely have to dial up plenty of points to keep Tennessee in the game and demonstrate that Munchak made the right move.

On the couch — Norv Turner: What are the odds that you'd lose a game when your defense can't stop a check-down pass on fourth-and-29? Just when it appeared things couldn't get much worse for the Chargers coach — whose squad already lost a game to the Denver Broncos this season after blowing a 24-0 lead — the overtime loss to Baltimore last weekend was enabled by Ray Rice's incredibly long jaunt through the San Diego defense. Mathematically, the Chargers (4-7) are still alive for a playoff berth. Realistically, they're finished, doomed to miss the playoffs for a third consecutive season. The clock is ticking on Turner's tenure.

Rookie revue — Janoris Jenkins: The last time the Rams faced the 49ers, three weeks ago in San Francisco, the big-play cornerback was a no-show — scratched by coach Jeff Fisher for violating an undisclosed team rule during the road trip. Now Jenkins gets a do-over against the 49ers at the Eddie Jones Dome, riding a wave of glory after last weekend after becoming just the fourth rookie in league history to produce two interceptions returned for touchdowns in a game. That's one way to get back into the good graces of Fisher, who went out on a limb to take Jenkins in the second round in April (39th overall) after some teams removed him from their draft boards as a character risk. Whatever caused Jenkins to get deactivated for the game in early November reminds us that there were issues attached to the Northern Alabama product. Yet his impact plays against the Arizona Cardinals last week demonstrated why Jenkins was widely considered a first-round talent.

Key matchup — Wes Welker vs. Jimmy Wilson: What a tough challenge for Wilson, a second-year pro who has moved into the Dolphins' nickel corner role. With the New England Patriots' No. 1-ranked offense rolling along at a record pace, Welker, the slot receiver and de facto blitz-buster, has found his typical rhythm. Remember earlier in the season, when speculation persisted that New England was phasing him out? Well, let's just say that was premature. Welker, with 80 receptions on the season, has caught at least six passes in nine consecutive games. It's a good bet that he makes it seven straight upon his return to Miami. He is 39 yards shy of his fifth 1,000-yard season over a six-year span since the Dolphins traded him to New England in 2007. Such production has undoubtedly helped the pace of a Tom Brady-armed offense that lost tight end Rob Gronkowski just as fellow tight end Aaron Hernandez returned from an injury setback. Brady will surely keep close watch on Welker's flow against Wilson, who came into the league as a seventh-round pick from Montana. And why not? Opposing quarterbacks have combined for a 104.5 passer rating this season against Wilson.

Next man up — Whitney Mercilus: The injury rash keeps spreading among the Houston Texans linebackers, with outside 'backer Brooks Reed expected to miss perhaps two or three weeks with a groin injury. That steps up the timeline for getting a long look at the first-round pick, Mercilus. The Illinois product, picked 26th overall, will make his first NFL start Sunday when Houston (10-1) tries to set a franchise record for victories in a season. This has some intriguing potential. As a junior last season, Mercilus broke out and led the nation with 16 sacks and nine forced fumbles. In spot duty this season, Mercilus (6-4, 257) has shown flashes of big-play impact for a unit ranked sixth in the NFL for fewest yards and points allowed. He ranks third on the team with three sacks (a half-sack more than Reed) and has forced two fumbles. Reed is the third Texans linebacker to go down, following Brian Cushing (knee, season-ending) and Bradie James (hamstring, week-to-week).

Reality check — Cowboys and December: Now that Tony Romo has finally lost a game on Thanksgiving (5-1), things get really interesting. It's December. And this not only hasn't been Romo's month, but the Cowboys have had this pattern over many years of running out of steam down the stretch. Since 2005, Dallas is 14-19 in December and January. And you'd have to go all the way back to 1996 (when Barry Switzer was coach and Troy Aikman the quarterback) to find the last time the Cowboys had a winning record in the year's final month. Last year, they missed the playoffs by losing four of their final five. So, as they get set to host the battered Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night, the Cowboys are flirting with trouble as they try to seize a playoff spot. Should it help that three of the Cowboys' next four games are at their sparkling home palace? Not exactly. Dallas is 2-3 at home this season, and 15-15 since opening Cowboys Stadium is 2009.

My road to Super Bowl XLVII goes through ... Baltimore: It seems a near certainty that the Ravens will extend the NFL's longest current streak of playoff seasons to five. With a victory on Sunday against the beloved Steelers, the Ravens will clinch at least a wild-card berth. But for all of the consistency they've had reaching the playoffs, they've had a bit of a problem treating their fans to postseason football. Since the current playoff streak began with the 2008 campaign, the Ravens have played eight of their nine playoff games on the road. They won their playoff opener in each of the past four postseasons, which is notable ... but they haven't been able to break through for the franchise's second Super Bowl berth. Securing an extended stay in Baltimore during January might be the ticket. Baltimore has the NFL's longest current home winning streak, 15 games. And one quick comparison of quarterback Joe Flacco's numbers at home versus the road adds to the urgency. Flacco has a 10-3 TD-INT ratio, with a 108.3 passer rating at home this season; on the road, the ratio is 4-4 and the rating is 70.2. Uh, he needs to stay home, where he is 32-5 for his career. At the moment, the Ravens (9-2) hold the slot to earn the No. 2 seed in the AFC, which would mean a week off with a bye and at least one home game. But with Houston holding a tiebreaker edge based on a head-to-head massacre of the Ravens in October and with New England and Denver (both 8-3) among the hottest teams in football, the need to rack up a few more Ws during last quarter of the season can't be stressed enough. Then maybe the road to the Super Bowl might indeed go through M&T Bank Stadium.

Did you notice? Since having surgery on his left wrist during the bye week, Mario Williams is starting to resemble the player the Buffalo Bills hoped they were getting when they signed him to a six-year, $100 million free agent contact in March. Williams had three sacks in Sunday's loss at Indianapolis, raising his season tally to 8½ — which puts him in striking range of becoming the first Buffalo player to post a double-digit sack season since Aaron Schobel had 10 in 2009. In the past two games, Williams has four sacks. The surgery, in late October, apparently corrected an issue that led to Williams complaining that he couldn't use his left hand to shed blockers — which contributed to a heap of criticism hurled at the NFL's highest-paid defensive player. The "market correction," though, underscores the importance of players considering multiple medical opinions, if needed, in dealing with injuries. Williams had the surgery after getting a second opinion not affiliated with the Bills.

Stat's the fact: Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch heads into Sunday's game at Chicago averaging 100.4 rushing yards per game over the past five outings, which includes four 100-yard games. Since the start of November 2011, no NFL has rushed for more yards than Lynch — tallying 1,992 yards over that span.