(Sports Network) - We've seen this before. Jim Carey in Me, Myself and Irene. Abraham Lincoln, particularly during his presidency. Barrett Robbins, most notably the night before the Super Bowl. We're talking about bipolar disorder - the Chiefs are afflicted with it. After losing their fist two contests of the season, Kansas City won in Weeks 3 and 4. Then, in Week 5 at Jacksonville, they essentially laid an egg. Now the Chiefs are back on an emotional high after beating the hapless Cincinnati Bengals 27-20 (it wasn't that close) to get back to .500 and atop the tepid AFC West.

"We're 3-3 - not where we'd like to be - but we've dug ourselves back out of that hole again and we're hopeful we can stay out," said head coach Herman Edwards.

Staying out will require the services of two familiar offensive forces, both of whom showed up against Cincy on Sunday: tight end Tony Gonzalez and running back Larry Johnson. For Gonzalez, Sunday was an historic day. His nine-catch, 109-yard performance (the third time in the last month that he's surpassed 95 yards to lead his team in receiving, by the way) was highlighted by his three- yard first-quarter touchdown reception that moved him ahead of Shannon Sharpe for first place on the all-time touchdown list for a tight end. Then in the fourth quarter, the 11th-year veteran got an early jump on distancing himself from Sharpe by catching a second touchdown - the 64th of his career - to put the Chiefs ahead 27-10.

Gonzalez gave his record-setting game ball to his older brother Chris, the man he credits for getting him into football.

"He dragged me by my shirt - literally - and said, 'Come on, you got to come play catch with me,'" said Gonzalez, who grew up primarily as a basketball player in the Bay Area. "Ever since then I liked the sport. It's something I felt like I was pretty good at."

Ditto the "pretty good at" for Larry Johnson. Although he has struggled through a difficult start to the '07 season, the mercurial star enjoyed his second 100-yard outing of the season (119 yards, to be exact), and first touchdown (an eight-yard run in the second quarter) against the Bengals.

"When you run the ball for 10 yards (vs. Jacksonville) and you're supposed to be a running team, you don't have to say much in practice the next week," Edwards said of how the Chiefs came out and pounded the rock.

But back to the bipolar motif. As solid as the Kansas City rushing attack looked on paper, it should be noted that 106 of Johnson's 119 yards came in the first half. In the second half, Johnson managed just 13 yards on 15 carries. And, in true bipolar fashion, he was flagged for a crucial clock- stopping five-yard penalty late in the fourth quarter after he got bottled up for a loss of six yards and spiked the ball in frustration.

"Five yards and it hurt us - all those penalties hurt us. We had a couple of them by veteran guys early," said Edwards, who saw several of his players lose their cool on Sunday. (It) was emotional and you have to keep your composure. We lost our composure at times. (Jeff) Webb lost it; Benny (Sapp) lost it one time. Cincinnati's the kind of team that can get you going. They have some talkers over there and our guys were talking back and it was getting chippy. You don't want to do that. You can't lose your composure."

At 3-3 and sitting atop their division, there should be no reason the Chiefs can't keep their heads about them now.

CHIEFS DEFENSE DOMINANT BEHIND ALLEN

For the first time since the end of the '97 and start of the '98 seasons, the Chiefs have held six consecutive opponents to 20 points or less. Credit a resurgent pass rush for the defensive outburst. Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen recorded 2.5 sacks against the Bengals, leaving him with a team-leading six on the season.( Keep in mind, Allen sat out the first two games while serving a league-imposed suspension for multiple DUI arrests.) He also recorded the 12th forced fumble of his career, fourth most in franchise history.

WHO'S HOT

Wide receiver Jeff Webb is coming off a career game in which he caught seven passes for 78 yards.

WHO'S NOT

Cornerback Benny Sapp returned after missing two games with an ankle injury, and he nearly wound up missing the game against Cincinnati after his first- quarter personal foul penalty drew the ire of coaches and teammates. Sapp disagreed with a defensive holding flag thrown against him and responded by losing his mind.

Herm Edwards actually asked the official if he wanted to kick Sapp out of the game.

"(The official) said, 'I can't kick him out,' and I said, 'You should,'" Edwards said. "I talked to Benny and said, 'You can't do that.'" Sapp sat out for a while, "but as the game got going, I felt a guy who kept rubbing on me, and it was Benny. I said, 'Ok, you're sorry, I forgive you, you go back and play now.'"

NEXT UP

The Chiefs travel to Oakland to face the 2-3 Raiders, a team they have defeated in eight consecutive meetings. This, surprisingly enough, is CBS's featured Week 7 matchup.

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Visit Andy Benoit at www.benoitmedia.com