Steelers in; other races tighten

On a day when most of the playoff races got tighter, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the only team to clinch a berth. By inches.

The Steelers clinched the AFC North, scoring the only touchdown of the game on a 4-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes with 43 seconds left to beat Baltimore 13-9. The call was so close it had to be reviewed and even after referee Walt Coleman ruled it a score, Ravens coach John Harbaugh continued to protest.

The Steelers (11-3) also are now on track to secure home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs because the Titans (12-2) lost in Houston 13-12. So if Pittsburgh wins in Nashville next week and then again at home the final week against Cleveland, it is the top seed.

A look at the tight playoff races:

AFC

The Titans and Steelers have clinched the South and North.

But the East remained a three-way race among 9-5 teams: the New York Jets, Miami and New England, all of whom won Sunday.

The Jets and Dolphins meet in the Meadowlands the final Sunday and if both win next week — New York at Seattle and Miami at Kansas City — the winner takes the division. The Patriots, who have Arizona at home and are at Buffalo, would have to take their chances with a wild-card spot if they can get it because the Jets would finish with a better division record and the Dolphins with a better conference record.

New York, which appeared headed for its third straight loss, stayed alive by the barest of margins, beating the Bills 31-27 when Abram Elam sacked J.P. Losman and Shaun Ellis returned the fumble for the winning touchdown with 1:54 left. New York had been trailing 27-24 and Buffalo was trying to use up the clock.

"That play that Shaun makes and Abe makes, who knows?" quarterback Brett Favre said. "At the end, we may look back and say that could be one of those plays that catapulted us into something great."

Denver (8-6), entered the day needing a win or a San Diego loss to clinch the West. But the Broncos lost in Carolina as expected, 30-10.

But it looked like they might clinch the division anyway before they even started until the Chargers, trailing 21-3 in Kansas City, rallied to win 22-21 to improve to 6-8. The teams meet in San Diego on the final weekend, so San Diego has a shot if it wins at Tampa next week and Denver loses at home to Buffalo.