CINCINNATI - Ignore Chad. Listen to Elway.

In the midst of their second Super Bowl championship season, the undefeated Broncos came to town in 1998 for a game against the lowly Bengals, a team with a losing record and everything to gain.

By day's end, the Broncos felt awfully lucky to be 8-0. Terrell Davis' touchdown run with 58 seconds left gave them a win and a warning.

''Today was a great lesson for us,'' Elway said. ''We've got to be ready to play week in and week out.''

Listening, Chiefs?

Kansas City comes to town this weekend as the NFL's only unbeaten team, the first team to start 9-0 since those '98 Broncos. And they're facing the same challenge.

How do they get psyched up for an unfamiliar team with everything to gain?

''People have been saying that we're going to lose every week,'' Chiefs guard Will Shields said. ''We just sort of take it that way, that each week we're supposed to lose. We'll just play our game and what happens, happens. I think it's going to be a tough game.''

Chad Johnson has guaranteed it.

As soon as the Bengals (4-5) beat Houston last Sunday, the chatty receiver guaranteed a win over the Chiefs. It became the talk of the locker room, with most of his teammates wishing he'd kept quiet.

''It's to get us fired up,'' Johnson said. ''I just put us out there.''

He certainly put them on the spot.

The Bengals are one game out of first place in the weak AFC North, their best standing at this point of a season since 1990. That's the last year that they had a winning record and went to the playoffs.

By knocking off an unbeaten team, it would suggest they've come full-circle under first-year coach Marvin Lewis. They might even win over some of their reluctant fans.

They got drubbed before a capacity crowd in their home opener, prompting fans to conclude Lewis' rebuilding is going to take some time. They've had crowds of around 50,000 for each of the last two home games - roughly 15,000 below capacity.

A sales surge after the 34-27 win over Houston guaranteed a capacity crowd for the Chiefs and another chance to show fans that things are different.

''The excitement has been there since Marvin Lewis was hired, really,'' quarterback Jon Kitna said. ''After the first game of the year, there was a little bit of doubt or whatever. But I think we've played ourselves back into a position where that excitement is back.''