sunday, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy for the patriots. 7's trey daerr live in foxboro looking ahead. >> kim, with peyton manning now retired, no quarterback in the nfl is as close to being tom brady's equal as ben roethlisberger. the two meeting seven times over the last 10 years with roethlisberger on the shelf following a knee operation monday, match-up will just have to wait. >> is for any player. and he's obviously dealing with a significant one. but i'm sure they'll still be ready to go. they've got a lot of good players. >> reporter: ben roethlisberger leaving landry jones to call the shots in his absence. >> landry jones is a good player. roethlisberger is a good player. and again they have great players. that's what a good quarterback does, he gets the ball to his skilled players and they do the damage, really. >> reporter: the steelers top team within the last three years. >> one thing you watch and for a guy that's not that big he really catches everything. >> for as good as the steelers have been offensively in recent years, their defense is the third worst in the league against the pats 2016