Pats defense to get rare challenge

They may have been muted a bit last night on offense, but the only AFC team that has the firepower to match Tom Brady in a shootout is on its way to Foxboro for a showdown with the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

Roethlisberger, a two-time Super Bowl winner, is the best quarterback the Patriots have gone up against since Week 10, when they hosted Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.

So let’s see how the Patriots defense, which has performed well down the stretch, handles a legitimate quarterback, as opposed to the collection of Brock Osweiler-type misfits that have been cast their way week after week.

The Patriots did play the Steelers Week 7 in Pittsburgh but there was an important ingredient missing from the equation.

The Chiefs defense stood tall in the red zone, but the Steelers, who haven’t lost since a 35-30 thriller against the Cowboys two weeks before Thanksgiving, still made plays when needed.

“Whoever we play next week is going to be a great football team and we’re going to have to play better than we played tonight on offense,” Brady said following the Texans game.

Speaking with NFL Network analyst Solomon Wilcots a few weeks ago, he wasn’t worried about the Patriots against the Steelers, or the defense facing Roethlisberger, considering the Pats have always had success against him.

“I think all of us want to play a better game than we played (Saturday) so we’ll just figure out what we can to do get better to have a cleaner slate next week,” said Martellus Bennett.