CINCINNATI — More than halfway through the season, the AFC North’s standings start with Cleveland.

Yes, the Browns. The team that’s been the division’s doormat for years. The one that changes coaches and quarterbacks and can’t seem to get anywhere.

With a dominating performance, Cleveland suggested that might be changing. The Browns moved into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh by beating the Cincinnati Bengals 24-3 on Thursday night, extending their best start in 20 years.

Maybe these aren’t the Browns (6-3) that everyone has come to expect.

“We’re not the old Cleveland Browns,” safety Donte Whitner said. “We understand everybody wants to put that label on us, but we work too hard and have too much character and talent on this football team to believe what outside people think of us.

“Right now, we’re No. 1 in our division.”

And the Bengals (5-3-1) are a prime-time mess. Again. They lost a Sunday night game in New England 43-17 earlier this season. They were primed to prove themselves to a national audience. All they did was show they can’t handle the attention.

“This one has me speechless,” receiver A.J. Green said.

While the Bengals try to find the words to describe yet another meltdown, the Browns came away in the unaccustomed role of having to avoid getting giddy over being in first place.

“It doesn’t matter,” quarterback Brian Hoyer said. “There’s seven more games to go. I know speaking for myself, the meaningful games come at the end of November and in December. That’s something this organization hasn’t had in a long time.”

Things learned from a most lopsided matchup of Ohio’s teams:

There’s no understating what this one meant to Cleveland. The Browns had dropped their last 17 road games against AFC North teams. Their last such win came on Sept. 28, 2008, a 20-12 victory in Cincinnati. This one was Cleveland’s most lopsided victory in Cincinnati since a 34-0 win in 1987 with strike replacement players.

“A huge boost for our guys,” coach Mike Pettine said. “Just look at the streaks we ended. Not many people gave us a chance.”

The Browns pulled it off by getting their running game together. They’d run for a total of only 158 yards in the last three games combined, averaging 1.9 yards per carry. Against Cincinnati’s struggling defense, they piled up 170 yards, with Terrance West picking up 94 on 26 carries .