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Have you noticed Andy Dalton lately?

No, not the playoff-choking Dalton. I think that Dalton is dead. Not the Dalton who quarterbacks for the Bengals. We used to know them as the Bungles. The paper-bag franchise. That image is also old, deader than dial-up.

Have you noticed Andy Dalton lately? Careful if you read further, because it might not fit the narrative you want to see—or the one you've always believed. That's the sucker narrative. The false narrative. A narrative I always believed until now.

As this season has unfolded, one of the most dramatic—largely unnoticed outside of Cincinnati—transformations has been Dalton. It's true Dalton has always been good in the regular season. He has a .649 career regular-season winning percentage. But after the opening three games, he's been better than ever. Outside of dudes named Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, he's played the position as well as anyone.

Andy Dalton by the numbers Winning% Cmp% Yards/G TDs/G INTs/G Rating 2011-14 regular seasons .633 61.6 230.6 1.55 1.03 85.2 2015 regular season 1.000 66.3 288.7 2.67 0.33 121.0 Career playoffs .000 55.7 218.3 0.25 1.50 57.8 Pro-Football-Reference.com

This is where the haters warp in (and I was one of them) with Dalton's being 0-4 in the playoffs with one touchdown and six interceptions.

What I'm seeing now from Dalton, however, is rapid growth in this young season. I'm not the only one around the league seeing it.

"For whatever reason," said one NFC team executive, "he looks like a different guy. This is the best Dalton we've ever seen."

Some of the quarterback play from Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and Cam Newton, among others, has been so outstanding, it has overshadowed Dalton. The Bengals are an afterthought to many in the league, potential fodder for the Foxborough-ed Patriots in the postseason.

The Bengals are a quiet 3-0, but if Dalton's play continues, it won't stay quiet. The Bengals will be that team no one wants to play in the postseason, including the Patriots.

I want you to pay close attention to these numbers. Last week, Dalton passed for a career-high 383 yards with three passing touchdowns and a rushing one. His passer rating was 122.3.

Dalton has three consecutive games with at least a 115 rating.

Watch Dalton on tape and what you see is refinement. Cleaner throwing motion, more elasticity and a level of increased athleticism. Faster feet, faster throws, more accuracy. It's all there. (He also looks leaner for some reason.)

When asked this week at his press conference why he's had such a hot start, the best start of his career, Dalton said:

Yeah, I mean, it's another year. I feel more comfortable. I feel really good where we are right now. We've done some good things, but it's just the beginning. We've got to keep it going, we've got to keep playing well and keep finding ways to win. But I think we've put ourselves in a good spot right now.

The Bengals started 3-0 last year, then went 0-2-1 in their next three. Dalton says this isn't that team, and I believe him:

It's a new year, it's a new team. We feel like we've got the right mentality, and so we've got to do whatever it takes to not let anything slip. I think it's just the way that we're being coached, the way that Marvin [Lewis]'s doing things, and offensively Hue [Jackson]'s doing things. I know Paulie [defensive coordinator Paul Guenther] is going to be doing things with the defense. I think that our mindset is, we're not satisfied with where we are. It's only three games into the season, we're on our fourth game. That's the attitude you have to have.

We have become so used to Dalton and the Bengals' being, well, Dalton and the Bengals, it's hard to see Dalton as someone who can make a Super Bowl. Not saying he will, but with some of the weapons around him and a vastly underrated defense, such an achievement isn't a universe away.

I don't trust any team to travel to New England and win in the title game, but I'm beginning to think Dalton and the Bengals are the best option.

Dalton and A.J. Green are clicking like Matt Ryan and Julio Jones or Brady and Rob Gronkowski. The Dalton-Green connection was the reason they beat Baltimore 28-24 and sent the Ravens to 0-3. In effect, Dalton buried one of his biggest division rivals, and the other, the Steelers, lost Ben Roethlisberger for likely at least a month. The division is Cincinnati's to lose.

And the Bengals won't lose it because this is a different Dalton. You can see it.

Have you noticed Andy Dalton lately?

Few have, but they will soon. The entire NFL will.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report.