Storyline: The Patriots travel to Pittsburgh to battle the Ben Roethlisberger-less Steelers. Pittsburgh is still dangerous with Landry Jones under center but they are clearly not the same team.

Here are our five keys to today’s game.

1. Get Consistent Pressure On Landry Jones: The Patriots catch a break today with Ben Roethlisberger out after MCL surgery. The Patriots need to get consistent pressure on his back up Landry Jones and make him uncomfortable in the pocket. 

The Patriots will match up Malcolm Butler on Antonio Brown and play a lot of man to man coverage. This will allow them to bring more pressure.

2. Generate Match-Ups Against Their Safeties: The Patriots have to take advantage of Pittsburgh’s safeties by matching them up against Gronk and Marty Bennett in the passing game. 

Pittsburgh’s secondary will have a hard time matching up. The Patriots have to come out throwing and put pressure on the Steelers defense.

3. Pass Protection Must Be Good: The Steelers don’t blitz as much as they used to. They still blitz a fair amount however and they will put pressure on Tom Brady and the Patriots offensive line. 

Pass protection will be a major factor in this game. The Patriots must do a good job of picking up Pittsburgh’s zone blitzes and keep Brady upright. 

4. Gostkowski’s Kicks: Stephen Gostkowski has struggled this season and he will have a hard time with the wind in Pittsburgh today. 

Gostkowski needs to turn things around and while Heinz Field might not be the ideal place to do it, if he can make a couple of kicks in this game, he’ll feel better about himself. 

5. Play With an Edge: It’s easy to overlook the Steelers with Roethlisberger out, but the Patriots have to treat this like the big game that it is and go into Pittsburgh and take care of business. 

Prediction: Patriots 38 Steelers 20: The Patriots should take care of business but the Steelers won’t make it easy. They’ll challenge the Patriots but it won’t be enough. The Patriots have too weapons and they are healthy.