CINCINNATI -- The No. 1 reason why Thursday night's game is important for the Cincinnati Bengals is because of what a possible win over the Cleveland Browns would mean.

A victory would propel the Bengals to a never-before-seen 8-0 record and would continue to extend their already-massive lead over the rest of the AFC North.

As important as that is, a win, or at least a well-played game from Cincinnati's offense, could also cement Andy Dalton's legitimacy as an MVP candidate. Already this season we've stated a case for why the fifth-year quarterback should be in the middle of that conversation.

Sure, New England's Tom Brady might be playing at another level right now with his league-low one interception, but Dalton can't be far behind. The quarterback of a team that wasn't expected to be this dominant a contender, Dalton has a chance to really upset the balance of quarterbacking power by the end of November. With a string of primetime games coming up, the country will get to see just how legitimate he and his team really are.

To be truly considered one of the NFL's best quarterbacks this season, Dalton will have to finally play at an elite level under the lights.

Following Thursday night's game, the Bengals host Houston for the Week 10 Monday night game. The following Sunday, they travel to Arizona for a game that was just flexed into the 8:30 p.m. ET time slot.

Short of winning a playoff game, the one thing Dalton hasn't consistently done throughout his career is win on Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights. Last year's late-season Monday night win over Denver proved he could do it, but now it's time he strings together multiple performances like that one.

After all, the league's best signal-callers have done exactly that over the years. Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning have been the best at showing up when the regular-season stage is at its brightest. Dalton hasn't.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, those four quarterbacks have the four-highest Total QBR in prime time since 2006. During games with a 7 p.m. ET or later kickoff, Dalton has ranked 30th out of 34 qualifying quarterbacks. The Bengals' 3-7 record in primetime games that he's started hasn't been anything to be proud of, either.

If Dalton wants to continue to be taken seriously, he'll rectify that these next three weeks. He can't let another performance like the 2.0 passer rating he had in last year's Thursday night game against the Browns creep into his play.

His offensive coordinator doesn't foresee that happening.

"He's a totally different guy, and he needed to be different," Hue Jackson said. "You have to get yourself out of funks. Funks are going to happen every now and then. It's pro football.

"You live with that and you move on from it and you don't let it eat you up. Maybe in the past it might have bothered him, but that's just part of it now. You have to keep going."

You can see what Jackson means when you look at the way Dalton rallied the Bengals after throwing his third and fourth interceptions of the season in last Sunday's win at Pittsburgh. Clearly Dalton wasn't rattled by the turnovers and he confidently led his offense on a late touchdown drive that ultimately won the game. When similar situations of adversity hit these next three weeks, Dalton must exhibit that resilience and calm play again.

If he doesn't, he can kiss goodbye any plans of being an elite quarterback this season.

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