We're past the halfway point of the NFL season, and the year still felt somewhat unformed as it headed into Week 10. Fortunately, the schedule provided a number of intriguing, defining matchups (funny how that happens as we enter TV's sweeps month), and the hierarchy of the league is beginning to take a firmer shape.

Northern Exposure, Part I: There's a new beast in the AFC North. If Cincinnati can stay awake through its November 29 matchup with the Cleveland Browns, it will sweep the division for the first time ever. The Bengals' 18-12 victory over Pittsburgh gave them home-and-home wins against the Steelers for the first time since 1998. (And Cincinnati went 3-13 that year.)

The game was a tribute to the tough defense Marvin Lewis has put in place, with neither team scoring an offensive touchdown. Cincy's straight-up defense limited Ben Roethlisberger to a 20-of-40 afternoon for 174 yards, with four sacks and one interception. In Pittsburgh's last two possessions, at home with the game on the line, the Bengals pitched a near-total whitewash, six incompletions and one pass for seven yards in a three-and-out and a four-and-it's-over.

In the postgame, Cincinnati QB Carson Palmer told reporters, "We have a long way to go... We're not nearly good enough to make a long playoff run yet." That may be the right way to think, but you'd have a hard time convincing the Steelers after Sunday. Cincinnati's next three games are against Oakland, Cleveland, and Detroit. See you in December at 10-2, guys.

That's Entertainment!: The Colts and Pats don't know how to play dull games with each other, do they? Bill Belichick's extraordinary (that's one word for it) gamble on fourth-and-two deep in his own territory with two minutes to go is as incomprehensible a decision as I've seen this side of Andy Reid. Maybe he intended to lull the Colts into a false sense of security. Maybe, at some point in a future playoff game, when the Patriots line up as though they're going for it on a fourth down that makes no sense, the other team will have to respect the possibility and just might jump offsides.

Or maybe the smartest coach in the league was as nervous about the prospect of a two-minute drive with the ball in Peyton Manning's hands as every single New England fan was, and figured his best chance to win the game was in his own offense's hands. When it works, he's a genius. When it doesn't - and it failed by the tiniest margin - he looks like the stupidest coach who ever lived. Either way, the win or loss goes next to his name, and I suspect he's comfortable with that.

Slow down, sculptors: You can take a break for a while from preparing that bust of Josh McDaniels for Canton. Denver's 27-17 loss at Washington was the Broncos' third straight, to a team that had lost four straight coming into Sunday. Kyle Orton's ankle injury at the end of the first half brought Chris Simms into the game; the lefthander, who had thrown two NFL passes since 2006, completed 3-of-13 for 13 yards and one interception. The Broncos had 36 yards total offense in the second half.

Most embarrassing for Denver, Washington scored its highest point total in a game since week two of 2008. The Redskins scored on a second-quarter fake field goal, what would have been a 52-yard attempt, even though they had already shown the formation with tight end Todd Yoder split wide; coach Jim Zorn had to call a timeout because the Skins had only ten men on the field. Fully-stocked, they used the identical alignment, and still Mike Sellers was wide open for the pass from holder Hunter Smith.

The Broncos' three-and-a-half game lead over San Diego has gone to zero in four weeks. Next week's matchup with the Chargers in Denver has become a must-win.

Northern Exposure, Part II: Dallas looked awful in losing 17-7 at Green Bay in a game that wasn't nearly that close. The Cowboys' eleven possessions ended as follows: missed FG, punt, punt, punt, fumble lost, punt, punt, punt, fumble lost, interception, touchdown with 38 seconds to go in a 17-0 game.

It's looking like a down year for the NFC East. Dallas's non-division wins are against Tampa Bay, Carolina, Kansas City, Atlanta, and Seattle. Philadelphia's are over Carolina, Kansas City, and Tampa Bay, with losses to Oakland and San Diego. The idle Giants have beaten Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Oakland, and lost to New Orleans, Arizona, and San Diego. Not an impressive win in the bunch.

A Win Is A Win Is A Win: Several commentators have called Miami "the best 3-5 team in the league." Impressive teams shouldn't struggle to beat the Bucs at home, even when they lose their leading runner (Ronnie Brown) to an ankle injury. That said, Miami's brisk four-play, sixty-second march from its own 16 to the Tampa Bay 7 for the winning field goal was indeed impressive. And now they're the best 4-5 team in the league.

Call Them the One-Eyed Chiefs: In a battle for supremacy in the kingdom of the blind, Kansas City moved a step ahead of the Raiders in Oakland. JaMarcus Russell continued his remarkable season, throwing for 67 yards in 24 attempts against a defense that reminded nobody of the 2000 Ravens. The Raiders and Browns are the only two teams who have scored fewer than 100 points this season. The Browns have the excuse of having played one fewer game (though they won't after their Monday game against Baltimore). KC may not be the best of the worst, but Oakland's in the running for the worst of them.

Rex's Gambit Declined: Fascinating wind-down to the Jets-Jaguars game. With the Jets up by one and out of timeouts, and Jacksonville in chip-shot field-goal range, Rex Ryan ordered his defense to let the Jags score on second-and-six from the New York ten. This was the right move with 1:48 left on the clock, since the ensuing kickoff would give the Jets time to come back. But Maurice Jones-Drew had the right countermove, getting the first down but taking a knee just before the goal line. After three David Garrard kneel-downs - unusual for a trailing team - the Jags hit the winning field goal as time expired.