Cincinnati ? All across the NFL’s most overlooked outpost, fans are putting away their paper-bag head covers and cutting loose with a “Who Dey” cheer for the first time in years.

The Bungles are gone. The Bengals are back — and sharing first place, no less.

By guaranteeing a victory over the Kansas City Chiefs and then pulling it off Sunday in front of the biggest-ever crowd at Paul Brown Stadium, the Bengals (5-5) have their long-suffering fans feeling like it was the good old days — the 1980s, that is.

“My neighbors were waiting outside for me this morning, telling me congratulations,” sixth-year cornerback Artrell Hawkins said Monday. “That’s something that’s never happened.”

None of them can remember anything like this.

The Bengals haven’t been in contention this late in a season since 1990, the last time they had a winning record and made the playoffs. Their 24-19 win over the Chiefs moved them into a tie with Baltimore atop the AFC North.

The Bengals in playoff contention? Stunning.

“We’ve already won two games in November — that’s something I’ve never done before,” Hawkins said. “Usually we go in the tank about Oct. 3, and you don’t see us until the next season.”

One high-profile win has put them in everyone’s sights.

By backing up receiver Chad Johnson’s boast that they were going to win, the Bengals proved they were no longer a sad-sack team to be ignored. A franchise that went to two Super Bowls in the 1980s is back on the NFL’s radar.

“It gives us legitimacy for everything,” first-year coach Marvin Lewis said.

It also gives them a chance to contemplate the playoffs, a place few of them have visited.

Lewis set out Monday to start preparing his team for the rigors of playing important games in November and December. The Bengals’ last trip to the playoffs ended with a 20-10 second-round loss to the Los Angeles Raiders in the 1990 season.

Although the Bengals are only a break-even team, their weak division presents an unexpected chance to think of the postseason in the first year of Lewis’ rebuilding program.

“You know that the team that gets hot, that plays well down the stretch, that stays healthy — you have a chance to go very far,” Lewis said. “Every year in the NFL, that script is written and somebody plays it out and runs the table with it and ends up where they want to be in January.”

So, why not the Bengals?

Players who have been through one miserable season after another were beaming Monday, but reluctant to talk about a postseason in Cincinnati. Years of disappointment have taught them not to count on anything.

“I’m going to keep it even-keel until we get to the promised land,” offensive tackle Willie Anderson said.

The victory over Kansas City proved them right about one thing: This is a much different team from the 12 before it. These Bengals no longer self-destruct and stumble around; they’ve joined the NFL’s vast middle ground.

“Going toe-to-toe with the best in the league gives us a little respect,” linebacker Kevin Hardy said. “But I still don’t think we have everybody’s respect.”

They are starting to get back their fans’ respect. After two crowds of around 50,000 for home games — roughly 15,000 below capacity — they drew the biggest crowd ever for a Bengals game in Cincinnati.

Fans were as loud as they’ve ever been, and left the stadium doing the “Who Dey” chant from their Super Bowl days.

“I can’t remember the last time the stadium was like that, even when Pittsburgh and Cleveland have been in here,” Hawkins said. “It was my first total NFL experience.

“I’ve played in the NFL, but that’s the NFL I always dreamed about.”