CINCINNATI -- As she gleefully peeled out of the grocery store's organic food aisle, a woman nearly crashed her cart into an approaching shopper.

"Did you see Andy Dalton?" she asked, excitedly waving an arm in the direction she came from.

It was the Tuesday afternoon preceding the Cincinnati Bengals' showdown with the Ravens. Five days before the game, Dalton was with his wife and 15-month-old son, picking up a few items from an area Kroger on his off day. The energy within the city was just starting to build.

"You kind of thrive off that energy," Andy's wife, Jordan Dalton, said. "It's fun to go out, and people are just so excited."

Love this!! Thank you to whoever snapped it!! @andydalton14 pic.twitter.com/CJ651Wk3mt — JJ Dalton (@jjdalton5) July 25, 2014

A couple days before his Kroger sighting, Dalton had engineered a three-touchdown passing performance to propel the Bengals to a 2-0 record. In the process, he got the football pundits all abuzz. Was this a new version of Dalton? Had something finally clicked? Would he be able to sustain this hot start?

Five weeks later, those questions have faded, replaced with random "Who Dey" chants and water-cooler dialogues about Dalton's midseason MVP status. One afternoon last week while her husband was beginning his bye, Jordan Dalton -- affectionately known by friends as JJ -- even had some neighborhood teens happily scream the chant as they drove past her home.

Days that once seemed unfathomable in the Queen City have arrived: Andy Dalton is revered. He's a hero.

But as much as Bengals fans might be warming to the idea of this seemingly "new" Dalton, his wife sees things differently.

"I see the same guy on and off the field," Jordan Dalton said. "It's more of just his personality is beginning to show on the field with the players and coaches."

Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson has liked what he's seen so far from his quarterback, whose 84.2 total QBR is the highest in the league among quarterbacks with at least six starts.

"I keep hearing the term 'swag,'" Jackson said. "He's swagged out."

In addition to a career-high QBR, Dalton also has the most passing yards, touchdowns, wins and his best passer rating through the first six games of a season in his career. The inconsistencies he had with turnovers in years past have disappeared for now. So have many of his old sack woes. He has regularly danced out of sack chances or smartly thrown the ball away before being brought down this season.

All of it has led to a change in the national conversation about Andy Dalton, and Jordan Dalton is relishing in it.

Few quarterbacks start the first game of their rookie seasons, and even fewer end up in the playoffs by the end of that season. Dalton did both, and he's been back to the postseason three other times. Of course, he hasn't won a playoff game, but his teams have had success. Despite that, Dalton fielded the type of reproach most quarterbacks of his stature have seldom had.

"I was probably more frustrated than he was," Jordan Dalton said. "On my end, I was like, 'I don't understand what everybody isn't seeing.' I know how smart he is, and how hard-working he is. I know how he leads our family, so I know how he leads that team.

"I just felt like people weren't getting to see that side of it."

Love this guy... Very thankful for the way he leads our family... 1 Corinthians 11:3 A photo posted by JJ Dalton (@jjdalton5) on Oct 22, 2015 at 9:02pm PDT

Jordan Dalton credited her husband's ability to stay true to his devout Christian upbringing and not let the harsh tones of the negativity cloud his head.

"When you start living to please other people, that's when it can really start to affect you," she said.

So far this season, Andy Dalton has been pleasing the Bengals, Bengals fans and fantasy owners alike. Even with last week's bye, Dalton begins Week 8 as fantasy's fourth-best scoring option at quarterback, according to ESPN's standard scoring system.

Whether real-life or fantasy, Jordan Dalton remains convinced her husband is every bit the player and person he always has been.

"I really, truly believe and know this is just the same Andy, and they're getting an opportunity to see him shine," Jordan Dalton said. "I'm really proud of him."