CINCINNATI -- If playing defense is about toughness, then the scene in the Cleveland Browns' team meeting room at a Cincinnati hotel Thursday afternoon seems awfully confusing.

"Some guys had tears," safety Donte Whitner said.

Whitner had a story to tell, and that story was all about toughness. He told it to the team, how he was raised by a single mother, not having a bed to sleep in, how he almost died in a car wreck as a boy. That background makes the game of football easy to play, Whitner says. Makes toughness easy. Makes listening easy, too.

And beating the Cincinnati Bengals 24-3 in a pivotal divisional road game to take over first place in the AFC North at 6-3, the Browns' best record since 1994? Not so tough, apparently.

"He brought the house down," said defensive tackle Billy Winn of Whitner's speech before the team hopped on the bus. "We were already fired up for this one, and his words put it over the top."

The broader context of Whitner's message is this: He played on a few dominant 49ers defenses and thinks the Browns have the potential to match that.

Not a top-12 defense. Not a top-eight defense. Better than that. Tougher than that.

That's why, when defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil asked him to speak to the team, he decided to spit hot lava. On a short week, middle of the season, big Thursday night stage looming, players battling injuries, the team needed that "little added push," Whitner said.

And then the Browns pushed the Bengals around, holding Andy Dalton to a disastrous 2.0 passer rating -- 10-of-33 for 86 yards and three interceptions seems unfathomable for a multiyear starter -- and the Bengals' offense to less than half of its average 362-yard production.

"And we came out and held them to three points," Whitner said. "The game of football is easy, especially when you deal with things like this and you're really not supposed to be where you are. You can put things in perspective."

How's this for perspective: Cleveland is a serious playoff contender for the first time since 2007.

The defense is a primary reason. Consider, the Browns have given up seven touchdowns over the past five games, which in itself is steady work. But you could argue four of those touchdowns were either in garbage time or on a very short field after an ugly turnover. Take those away, and the Browns are playing dominant football.

Ben Roethlisberger is one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league, but he averaged 5.4 yards per passing attempt against the Browns in early October.

The Cleveland pass rush flustered Dalton all night. The more the Browns pressured, the more Dalton overthrew his receivers. Defensive end Desmond Bryant led the way with two sacks, and cornerback Buster Skrine added two picks. Dalton was so bad, he had Browns players joking about which turnover should have been returned for the longest yardage.

Linebacker Karlos Dansby said the Browns sniffed out all but about a dozen of the Bengals' plays. Screens, deep balls, crossing routes -- Cleveland knew what was coming.

Such preparation has cornerback Joe Haden getting used to this new trend of, you know, playing meaningful games late in the season.

"Usually, we'd be going for first place in Week 3," Haden said.

Not Week 10.

The Browns' rushing defense was a problem early in the season but has proved respectable the past three weeks. Jeremy Hill finished with 55 yards on 12 carries for the Bengals, who were in third-and-long all night.

Asking players a month ago if this defense had a chance to be elite would have elicited lukewarm answers. Now, ask linebacker Paul Kruger and it's, "I don't see why not."

Thanks to toughness and tears.

"We've got a team full of dogs," Skrine said. "Relentless, passionate, accountable."