Steelers Crowd AFC Wild Card Race With Win Over Baltimore

A few weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers were all but left for dead in the AFC playoff picture. They had lost five straight games and were a meager 6-7. Last Sunday, they pulled out a victory with a last-second (literally) touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace. This week, they pulled out another nail-biter, 23-20. In the process, they beat the Ravens, making the AFC Wild Card race all the more intriguing. The Ravens and Steelers are both 8-7, as are the Texans, Broncos and Jets. We're looking at five teams with an identical 8-7 record heading into Week 17. They are fighting for two playoff spots.

The Steelers once again won the game through the air, though this time around it was with their pass defense. They had been shredded via the pass both during their recent losing streak and during the win in Week 15, but they held Joe Flacco to 148 yards passing and took him for two turnovers. Roethlisberger didn't quite come close to his 503-yard performance of last week, but he threw for 259 yards and a big late-first half touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes.

"It's been do or die for us for a while, fighting to the last minute. We're like the cardiac kids,'' Roethlisberger said.

Ray Rice once again starred for the Ravens, as he ran through the normally stout Pittsburgh run defense for 141 yards on 30 carries, but he did lose a fumble on the first play following a big takeaway in Pittsburgh territory by his defense. Todd Heap caught two passes, both for touchdowns. Derrick Mason hauled in seven passes for 77 yards. In the process he surpassed 11,000 receiving yards for his career, becoming just the 23rd player in history to accomplish this feat. But he still managed to be a bit of a goat.

Early in the fourth quarter, with the game tied at 20, Mason dropped a pass in the end zone that would have given the Ravens a 27-20 lead. He was wide open and appeared to just miss the ball as it ricocheted off his facemask. The only scoring the rest of the game was a Jeff Reed field goal with 5:25 left. It turned out to be the game-winner.

The Ravens did have a few chances late, but a penalty negated their best one. Roethlisberger threw a pretty reckless interception at the Baltimore 20 with 1:41 left in the game, but Frank Walker of the Ravens was called for illegal contact. Replays showed it was the correct call, but it still had a be pretty tough pill to swallow for John Harbaugh's Ravens.

"Missed opportunities is the moral of this story,'' Ravens defensive back Dominique Foxworth said.

They will look to right the ship next week in Oakland. A win over the Raiders would run the Ravens' record to 9-7 and likely get them in the playoffs.

The Steelers will look to win in Miami and then will also need a little help to make it.

But if one thing emerged from Pittsburgh Sunday, it was that Week 17 is going to be awesome for those enjoying the AFC Wild Card race.