PITTSBURGH — The unbeaten Bengals have been so good that they can pretty much lock up the AFC North in the next few days.

A victory on Sunday in Pittsburgh would give Cincinnati a daunting four-game lead in the loss column over the second-place Steelers (4-3). The Bengals then return home for a Thursday night game against the third-place Browns (2-5).

At midseason, the Bengals (6-0) could already have the division in hand.

“I think the focus will be at an all-time high,” left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “We have an opportunity, really, with two back-to-back division games — we know what those mean, we know in December how important those games can be after what happened to us last year. So it’ll be a great opportunity for us.”

For the Steelers, it’s a final chance to get back into the chase. They also started slowly last season, but won the division by beating the Bengals twice in December, forcing Cincinnati to settle for another wild-card berth.

The Steelers are expecting to have Ben Roethlisberger back after the quarterback missed four games with a sprained left knee, giving them a chance to pull off another second-half surge.

“Last year we were in the same predicament,” running back Le’Veon Bell said. “We were sitting 4-3 and we ended up finishing the season 11-5.”

Here are a few things to watch at Heinz Field:

How good is Ben?Roethlisberger’s left knee swelled when he practiced last week, giving him some concern. It’s unclear how much he’ll be able to move around in the pocket and improvise, which is his strength. Having him back on the field should be a boost by itself.“Anytime you have a guy of that caliber, it rejuvenates, revitalizes and gets everyone excited,” receiver Antonio Brown said.

Stopping BellThe Bengals want to put the onus on Roethlisberger by stopping Bell, who has led the offense in the past five games. He ran for 121 yards and had 16 yards in receptions during a loss to Kansas City last Sunday.“He has an unorthodox style of running that no one else in the NFL does, the patience he runs with,” Bengals defensive end Wallace Gilberry said.