Depending on your perspective, the Ravens lost the AFC North yesterday by either the nose of a ball or an official's call.
In a classic battle between the NFL's top two defenses, the Ravens watched the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrate a 13-9 victory and the division championship on Santonio Holmes' controversial 4-yard touchdown catch with 43 seconds left in the game.
The margin was so slim that the Ravens actually thought they had held the Steelers out of the end zone for a few minutes. But referee Walt Coleman overruled the original decision, signaling a touchdown after a replay review.
According to Coleman, the replay showed that Holmes had control of the pass and the ball broke the plane of the goal line - an opinion not shared by Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
"It didn't look to me like he broke the plane," said Harbaugh, who indicated that he never received an explanation from the officials. "That's what I saw."
The Ravens' first home loss to Pittsburgh since 2002 drops their record to 9-5, the same mark as the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. But based on the Ravens' record in the AFC (7-4), they hold a half-game lead over the Dolphins (6-4) and a one-game advantage over the Patriots (6-5) for the second wild card, the sixth and final playoff spot. If the Ravens win their final two games, they will make the playoffs.
But the Ravens let their chance to compete for the AFC North title slip through their fingers by allowing a 92-yard drive, the longest of the season against them.
Pittsburgh (11-3) capped the 12-play series by converting third-and-goal on the legs of Ben Roethlisberger.
The 6-foot-5, 241-pound quarterback lumbered all the way to the left sideline before running back to his right. He then found Holmes open in the middle around the goal line.
Holmes made the catch while falling forward and out of the end zone.
Head linesman Paul Weidner made the initial call that the ball didn't break the plane, which meant the Steelers would have faced fourth down from the Ravens' 1-yard line. The decision would have been to kick the short field goal to tie the score at 9 or go for the touchdown and the win.
But Coleman looked at the goal-line view and reversed the ruling. He announced to the 71,502 fans at M&T Bank Stadium (the largest announced crowd in Ravens history) that Holmes had two feet down in the end zone and had possession of the ball, neglecting to say whether the ball had broken the plane.
