CINCINNATI -- The last time the Bengals reached the playoffs, they were a chic pick to reach the Super Bowl because of their passing game. When Carson Palmer got hurt on is first throw in the postseason, Cincinnati was finished.
Four years later, the AFC North champions think they've got more staying power.
The Bengals (10-5) won the division title on Sunday with a 17-10 victory over Kansas City that showed the difference between Cincinnati's last two playoff teams. The 2005 Bengals had a lot of drama in the locker room and a lot of shootout games when they had to outscore opponents. This low-key team relies on defense and poise to grind out low-scoring wins.
Players who have been around for both like this combination better.
"You know what? In 2005, there was a lot of stuff," offensive lineman Bobbie Williams said. "That was too long ago to think about. This is a much more mature team."
These Bengals are taking a much longer view than their '05 counterparts. It showed in their low-key celebration on Sunday. They didn't douse the coach or whoop around in the locker room.
"This title is one of the many goals we set out to achieve," said Palmer, one of seven players on the active roster who were part of the 2005 team. "We are not going to pound our chest over this. We don't feel like we have conquered the world. We still have a lot of work to do."
That's far different from the last time around.
The Bengals were giddy when they ended one of the longest streaks of futility in NFL history with that 2005 division title. They went 11-5 -- their first winning record in 15 years -- with one of the league's most dangerous passing games.
It masked a glaring weakness. The defense was ranked the lowest of any in the playoffs that year, giving up an average of 30 points over the last eight games. When Palmer got his left knee shredded on the first playoff series, the Bengals could not keep up and wound up losing 31-17 to Pittsburgh.
After failing to get back to the playoffs the last three seasons, coach Marvin Lewis reinvented his team, stressing defense, ball control and field position. The defense has been this title team's strong point, giving up the fifth-fewest points in the league.
The offense is the bigger concern heading into the final regular-season game at the New York Jets (8-7), who need a win to reach the playoffs.
The offense was so inept that fans at Paul Brown Stadium loudly booed their playoff-bound team as it headed for the locker room at halftime.
"First off, it was a good day yesterday at the stadium, albeit some of the boos, which are kind of hilarious, at halftime," Lewis said on Monday.
Nothing about the offense was funny.
"It wasn't pretty," receiver Chad Ochocinco said. "It wasn't pretty at all."
When they won the division in 2005, the Bengals lost their last two regular-season games. They rested their regulars in a 37-3 loss to Kansas City, then lost their playoff game. Palmer doesn't want to get into a rut again.
"We are a team that thrives on momentum," Palmer said. "We need to go out and shut them down and put up some points. We need that momentum and aggressiveness going into the playoffs. We need that indestructible feeling going into the postseason."
"We're going to take all those things into consideration there," Lewis said.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
