What to keep an eye on in regular-season game No. 8 against the Bengals:
ANOTHER MILESTONE: Ben Roethlisberger is 31 passing yards shy of becoming the first Steelers' quarterback to reach 40,000 and the ninth QB in NFL history to amass that many yards with one team.
NORTH STAR: Roethlisberger will look to build on his 43-14 record as a starter against AFC North Division foes. The Steelers dropped their first division game of the season on Oct. 1 against Baltimore with Mike Vick at quarterback. Roethlisberger's division record includes a 17-6 mark against the Bengals.
THREE-TIMES-50: Head coach Mike Tomlin can become the third coach in Steelers' history to record 50 homes wins in the regular season with a victory.
PASSING FAST WILLIE: WR Antonio Brown needs 58 yards from scrimmage to surpass Willie Parker (6,075) for the seventh-most in team history.
RUN TO DAYLIGHT: The Steelers will have an opportunity to add to their NFL-best total of 10 rushing plays of 20 or more yards against the NFL's No. 16 run defense (109.2 yards per game). Cincinnati opponents are averaging 4.9 yards per carry.
SECURITY CHECK: The Steelers were minus three in takeaway/giveaway in last Sunday's 23-13 loss at Kansas City, the first time they'd been minus in that category since their season-opening, 28-21 loss on Sept. 10 at New England (minus 1). Can they get back to taking care of the football against the Bengals?
RED ZONE THREAT: The Bengals are tied with New England for No. 1 in the NFL in red zone efficiency (they score touchdowns 71.4 percent of the time). Cincinnati is coming off of a 4-for-4 red zone effort in its last game, a 34-21 win on Oct. 18 at Buffalo. The Bengals needed seven plays to score four red zone TDs against the Bills.
NEVER BEEN DONE: The Bengals are trying to achieve the first 7-0 start to a season in franchise history. Cincinnati went 6-0 in 1975 and again in 1988 but came up short of a seventh straight win both times. Paul Brown's '75 Bengals lost game No. 7 to the Steelers, 30-24 in Cincinnati.
