Cincinnati ? Jon Kitna just won’t go away.

The journeyman dubbed as Carson Palmer’s warmup act has turned into the NFL’s hottest quarterback. Kitna has led the reborn Bengals into playoff contention and kept a Heisman Trophy passer on the bench.

Astonishing.

“Think of all the doubts that people had about Kitna,” receiver Chad Johnson said Wednesday. “Just to see him playing the way he’s playing, I’m loving every last minute of it.”

Kitna was honored Wednesday as the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for November, when the Bengals moved into playoff contention in large part because of Kitna’s solid play.

“He’s the one doing it right,” offensive tackle Willie Anderson said. “He’s inspiring everyone around him. That’s the trait of an MVP.

“When you pick an MVP of a league, you say, ‘Can that team win without that guy?’ And definitely we can’t win without Jon. He’s one of the biggest reasons this team has gotten to where we are.”

No one expected him or the Bengals to get this far.

When Cincinnati took Palmer with the No. 1 pick in the draft, it looked like Kitna was about to lose his job, just as he did in Seattle after leading the Seahawks to a playoff appearance in 1999.

Cincinnati quarterback Jon Kitna celebrates a 24-19 victory Nov. 16 over Kansas City in Cincinnati. Kitna's steady game has put the Bengals in position for a playoff run.

Coach Marvin Lewis assured Kitna that wasn’t the case.

“We’re not just going to bring in somebody and say, ‘OK, you’re the quarterback,’ and kick him to the curb,” Lewis said. “Our football team couldn’t stand that. They couldn’t withstand going up on that roller coaster again.”

Kitna believed him, but knew most fans and reporters did not.

“None of them thought I’d be playing now anyway,” Kitna said. “And probably not a lot of you — if any of you — thought I’d be playing. They thought that Carson Palmer would be here.”

There were 14 million reasons to think so. Palmer had the better arm and the much bigger contract, with $14 million in bonuses alone. After Kitna’s horrid performance in a season-opening drubbing by Denver, the succession seemed clear.

But Lewis drove home a point that has made all the difference. Lewis was defensive coordinator on the 2000 Baltimore team that won a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer at quarterback.

Lewis’ message: You don’t have to win the game by yourself, just don’t lose it by forcing a throw. Kitna’s main shortcoming throughout his six-year career was his propensity to throw as many interceptions as touchdowns.

“That’s the one thing that Marvin and coach (Ken) Zampese hammered home to me after the first game: Just because something goes wrong somewhere else doesn’t mean you have to make a huge play,” Kitna said. “Don’t turn the ball over. That’s the thing I’ve been concentrating on all year.”

After a 1-4 start, Palmer was promoted from third-string quarterback to backup, leaving him only a few more losses from taking over. Instead, Kitna began to blossom.

The Bengals have won six of their last seven games, with Kitna completing 60 percent of his passes for 1,647 yards with 16 touchdowns and only three interceptions.

Kitna has played so well Lewis is willing to open the job to competition between him and Palmer next season, rather than hand it to the newcomer.

At his cousin’s basketball game Tuesday night, Kitna tried to hide in the corner, but wound up swarmed for autographs — a huge change from only a couple of months ago.

His teammates also are starting to lobby for a Pro Bowl berth and MVP consideration, something that doesn’t interest Kitna at the moment.

“Don’t even mention it to me, please,” he said. “I just want to be the MVP for this football team.”