QB challenge on deck

Big Ben, Steelers pose threat

Get ready for some fireworks. The Steelers are coming to town.

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.

The Steelers punched their ticket to Gillette by sneaking by the Chiefs, 1816, at Arrowhead Stadium on the strength of six field goals by Chris Boswell.

Maybe some people aren’t worried about a Pittsburgh matchup given the Patriots have had the Steelers’ number for quite some time, going 9-3 during the Tom Brady era, including 2-0 in the postseason. The Steelers have also never beaten Brady (4-0) at Gillette Stadium. So the deck would appear to be stacked against Ben Roethlisberger & Co. heading into Sunday night’s title game.

But let’s not get too carried away with those numbers. Roethlisberger, a twotime Super Bowl winner, is the best quarterback the Patriots have gone up against since Week 10, when they hosted Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. And that didn’t go very well, with the Patriots suffering their second loss of the season.

The Pats may have won eight games in a row since then, but the only team they’ve played during that time that finished the season in the top 20 in passer rating was the Miami Dolphins.

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.

This will be their stiffest test yet with the winner headed to Houston and a date in the Super Bowl to play the winner of the Packers-Falcons matchup.

The Patriots produced three turnovers, all interceptions, against the Texans during Saturday’s 3416 divisional round win. They’ll have to continue with that type of effort.

“Complementary football — that’s the way we’ve been winning and we’ve got to continue to do that,” Patriots defensive captain Devin McCourty said after the game.

The Steelers boast a bigplay offense to be sure, even though the Chiefs made them settle for field goals every time they were in the red zone last night. It was a terrific effort by the Chiefs defense, and the Patriots would certainly take that. Still, it might come down to the quarterback who gets the ball last.

The trio of Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown can never be counted out.

Bell rushed for 170 yards against the Chiefs after going for 167 vs. the Dolphins in the wild card round.

The Patriots did play the Steelers Week 7 in Pittsburgh but there was an important ingredient missing from the equation. Roethlisberger was out injured and the Pats defense handled backup Landry Jones, and took a 27-16 decision.

With Roethlisberger in tow, prior to last night, the Steelers had scored at least 24 points in each of their last nine games.

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.

“They’ve dominated against Ben,” Wilcots said. “I think Ben’s only beaten them (three times). They’ve got a body of work against him that’s superior, so coach Belichick clearly knows how to play him.”

The offense, meanwhile, can’t turn the ball over multiple times and expect to beat the Steelers. The players know they’ll need a better effort next week.

“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. “We’re 1-0 this season and we got another one coming up.”

Fasten your seat belts. For once, here comes an offense.

PATRIOTS BEAT Karen Guregian