Steelers stun Ravens on Suisham's kick as time expires

By Steve Ginsburg

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - The Pittsburgh Steelers overcame the absence of Ben Roethlisberger to stun the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 on Sunday and keep alive their once-unthinkable hopes of an AFC North Division title.

Shaun Suisham kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired, enabling the Steelers to snap a two-game losing streak and halt Baltimore's 15-game regular season winning streak at home.

The Steelers (7-5), behind veteran back-up quarterback Charlie Batch, drove 61 yards over the final 6:14 to set up Suisham's field goal, his third of the game.

"Big necessary win for us tonight in a hostile environment," Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin told reporters. "It was a tough physical and mental battle and we persevered."

Baltimore (9-3) took a 20-13 lead on a 34-yard, reverse-field touchdown by Ray Rice with five minutes left in the third quarter, igniting the crowd of 71,442 at M&T Bank Stadium.

But the Steelers refused to fold, tying the score at 20-20 on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Batch to tight end Heath Miller with just under eight minutes remaining in regulation.

Miller was sliding out of bounds at the two-yard line but acrobatically held the ball out over goal line, a painfully close call that was upheld under review.

On the game-winning drive that began at their own 15, the Steelers received a gift when linebacker Paul Kruger whacked Batch after he had thrown a 10-yard pass to Mike Wallace.