Steelers eliminate Ravens from playoff hunt with 31-27 comeback win

Reporting from Pittsburgh —  Pittsburgh won the AFC North in spectacular fashion Sunday, scoring the winning touchdown with nine seconds left to beat archrival Baltimore, 31-27.

Antonio Brown reached over the goal line after taking in a short pass from Ben Roethlisberger for the decisive four-yard score. Brown was stood up inside the one-yard line, but somehow extended the ball — barely — into the end zone.

The Ravens took the lead, 27-24, on Kyle Juszczyk’s 10-yard burst up the middle with 1:18 remaining.

Roethlisberger, who had two passes intercepted earlier in the game, calmly led the Steelers 75 yards in 10 plays, the last four coming as Brown fought through a pair of tacklers to assure the Steelers of a third straight playoff berth.

“Right before we went out,” Brown said, “we said, ‘Let’s get the game-winning touchdown and get out of here.’”

The Steelers (10-5), who scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, eliminated the Ravens (8-7) from contention. Pittsburgh will host a wild-card game on Jan. 7 or 8.

Kansas City secured a playoff spot when the Ravens lost.

The Steelers have won six straight and ended a four-game losing streak to Baltimore.

Roethlisberger finished with 279 yards passing and three touchdowns to overcome the two third-quarter interceptions. Those picks allowed the Ravens to take a 20-10 lead on Justin Tucker’s fourth field goal with 14:21 to play.

Brown caught 10 passes for 96 yards to join Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison as the only players with four straight seasons making at least 100 catches.

Le’Veon Bell ran for 122 yards and a seven-yard touchdown that kick-started Pittsburgh’s rally during a fourth quarter that featured 31 combined points and three lead changes in the final 7:16.

Flacco passed for 262 yards, including a pretty 18-yard dart to Steve Smith that put Baltimore up 14-10 early in the third quarter. Smith ended up with seven receptions for 79 yards, but the Ravens crumbled late. Their defense put up little resistance as Roethlisberger clinically got his team in position to get back to the playoffs.

It’s a destination that seemed to be disappearing right in front of Pittsburgh’s eyes in the third quarter. Roethlisberger threw a pair of interceptions deep in Pittsburgh territory — both poorly thrown balls to heavily covered targets — that helped the Ravens take control.

“I kind of dug ourselves a hole,” Roethlisberger said. “I take all that blame. We never quit and never gave up. Guys fought back.”

Indeed, with a season once filled with such promise slipping away, the Steelers turned to their three big stars.