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With a victory Sunday in Pittsburgh, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick can surpass Hall of Famers Dan Marino and Don Shula as the most prolific quarterback-head coach combination in league history by winning their 117th regular-season game together. And though the Steelers might seem like a formidable obstacle on the way to another appearance in the record book, Brady has pretty much owned them, winning four of five regular-season starts vs. Pittsburgh and both postseason meetings; he has a 104.8 passer rating over those seven games, throwing for 14 TDs and just three INTs against a perennially feared defense. Last year at Heinz Field, he threw for 350 yards and three TDs in a 39-26 dissection of a defense that ultimately permitted the fewest points in the league. Of course, a heavy dollop of stability never hurts. "It's been very important for me to never really change offenses or learn new terminology and I think we've just built on it over the years," said Brady of his tenure in New England. "It's great for a quarterback to have that continuity with coaching and obviously the terminology of the plays. It's been a huge benefit."

This game could be an important barometer for the Steelers, whose five wins have come against teams with a combined eight victories. And the often impregnable defense has already lost DE Aaron Smith for the year while NT Casey Hampton (shoulder) and OLB James Harrison (orbital bone) continue to recover from injuries. And Brady is well-suited to do what works against the Pittsburgh defense -- spread it out and pick apart the secondary.

Matchup to watch -- Patriots secondary vs. Steelers WR Mike Wallace: The deep threat scored on a team record 95-yard TD pass from QB Ben Roethlisberger last week and is averaging better than 20 yards per grab. Belichick concedes no one will catch Wallace in the open field, so it will be worth noting how the NFL's most generous pass defense tries to defend the home-run threat.