"The Bengals sacked Ben Roethlisberger five times the last time the teams played three weeks ago. They could have used a couple of more.

While the Bengals got consistent pressure on the Pittsburgh quarterback throughout the game, Roethlisberger escaped enough times and extended enough plays with his feet before finishing them off with his arm to help the Steelers pull out a 24-17 win on Nov. 13 at Paul Brown Stadium.

That's the Roethlisberger Bengals' head coach Marvin Lewis has said is playing at an MVP-type level. That's the Roethlisberger the Bengals (7-4) are going to have to contain if they are to beat the Steelers (8-3) at Heinz Field Sunday.

Roethlisberger has completed 245-of-385 passes for 3,070 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this season and is on pace to better his own franchise records for attempts and yards in a season while adding the single-season completion mark to his resume. It's not those raw statistics that gains Lewis' attention, however.

"He is totally the catalyst of their offense and their football team," said Lewis. "He makes (Kansas City linebacker) Derrick Johnson miss in the pocket last week and throws a perfect pass to a very well-covered tight end. He extends the play enough that the tight end was able to come open late, and he makes a perfect pass where only one guy can catch it. Those are things that maybe go unnoticed at times but are truly fine football plays."

Roethlisberger has long been one of the NFL's elite quarterbacks. He's led the Steelers to two Super Bowl championships and a runner-up finish last season but at this time last year he was rehabilitating a reputation of being an immature, spoiled star athlete. "