CINCINNATI -- As one of the league's most criticized quarterbacks in his first four seasons, Andy Dalton has heard his share of negativity.

Much of that has changed this year, as Dalton has led the Cincinnati Bengals to a 9-2 record entering their game Sunday at Cleveland.

Still, to deal with the negativity that has surrounded him at times in his career, Dalton finds he can best tune out the noise just before he steps onto the field.

Right before his games, Dalton keeps the doubts and complaints from touching his eardrums by putting on his headphones and scrolling through a particular musical playlist. His goal before games is to put himself into the most positive place possible, and he picks out songs with words and rhythms to help him go there.

Andy Dalton gets into the right frame of mind before games with a Christian music playlist. Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Asked during his Wednesday news conference about his pregame playlist, Dalton said he listened to Christian music of varying genres and tempos.

"There's stuff that's more upbeat, and there's the other stuff that's pretty calm," Dalton said. "It just kind of depends. I'm not like superstitious and am like, 'Oh, I've got to listen to this song or I've got to listen to different things.' It just puts me in a good state of mind."

Other players might receive their pregame energy from songs with more bass-filled rhythms and raunchier lyrics. But Dalton, who has long touted his faith and occasionally tweets out Bible verses and lyrics from religious songs, doesn't.

Whether or not it's his pregame song selection, something has been working well for Dalton this season. He ranks second in the league in Total QBR, is tied for fifth in touchdown passes and has the NFL's fifth-best touchdown-to-interception ratio. He also is quarterback of a team that could be one week away from clinching a playoff berth and a second division title in three seasons.