PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers are 5-2 and back in first place in the AFC North Division, but the preliminary portion of their schedule is over and the big-time has arrived with the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens in town for home games beginning Sunday at 4:05 p.m. at Heinz Field.

The Ravens are coming off a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, so their visit to Heinz Field Nov. 6 at 8:20 p.m. should be a classic matchup between two AFC North rivals. But the Patriots, who have beaten the Steelers seven times in the past nine meetings between the two teams, are another story.

Among those seven wins are victories in the 2001 and 2004 AFC championship games. Tom Brady wasn't even the quarterback in one Steelers victory in New England. The Steelers won during the regular season in 2004 to snap an NFL-record 18-game unbeaten streak for the Patriots, but the Pats won last year's regular-season game, 39-26, but it really wasn't that close.

So, where does that leave the Steelers going into this game? Many among the current team members weren't around for those AFC title-game matchups, but they do recall last year's whipping. And they know that despite one anomalous game against Buffalo this season when he threw four interceptions, Brady generally is as precise a quarterback as there is in the NFL.

"I'm not going to assume that our guys understand the nature of this matchup and its history,'' Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "Many of our guys weren't really a part of that history when you start talking about '01 and '04 and some of those things. So, it's not similar in that way (to the Ravens).''

Steelers fans certainly hate the Patriots as much as the Ravens, one would believe, but for different reasons. For the Patriots, it has to be their arrogance, and it begins with their cheating coach, Bill Belichick, and trickles down to quarterback Brady.

Speaking of Brady, he declined a conference call with the Steelers media this week. Better people than him have gone through that painless 5-6 minutes. He could have done it and been like his coach, who seems to be totally disinterested and possibly even reading the newspaper during the session. But I digress. Back to the rivalry, which truthfully has been one-sided lately.

I'm not totally convinced that the Steelers should sit back in their specialty defenses with 5-7 players in the secondary. Brady has to be pressured to be successful against him. It's not that he gets rattled, but his frustration clearly can mount if an opposing team can get to him early, knock him down a few times or five or six and clock his receivers as well.

This is easy to say and much more difficult to accomplish, of course. Brady has a quick delivery, and he is well-protected. The Patriots also have been able to run the ball effectively this season with several backs, including BenJarvis Green-Ellis, Steven Ridley and Danny Woodhead.

If the Steelers can shut down that trio, and there's no reason to believe they won't be able to do that, the Patriots won't be able to mix it up as much. I never believed they did that too often anyway, because any game I've watched Brady has been flinging the ball all over the field from start to finish.

Maybe the best defense against Brady and the Pats is a good offense, and the Steelers are more able to do that now than they were a few weeks ago. Their offensive line struggles are in the past, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been pretty sharp the past couple games. And what a receiving corps he has to throw to with veteran Hines Ward joined by third-year pro Mike Wallace and second-year sensations Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders.

The Steelers certainly have their fastest receiving corps ever and give Roethlisberger an explosive trio with the venerable Ward and reliable tight end Heath Miller. A long bomb to Wallace, Brown or Sanders could be just the game-changing play that the Steelers have been lacking in recent years against the Patriots. But a sustained drive would be even better.

The less Brady is on the field, the better it will be for the Steelers.