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Ravens Define "Ugly" In 13-10 Win Over Steelers

It may not have been pretty, but the Baltimore Ravens are now 9-2 and firmly in control of the AFC North.

Jason Bridge-US PRESSWIRE

This is one game that no one should care how it was played as long as the Baltimore Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was extremely ugly but the Ravens prevailed, 13-10. There was nothing to be satisfied with on both sides of the ball other than the "W" but in a league where wins count the same regardless of whether you win 55-20 like the Ravens did last week, or only 13-10 this week.

Outplayed on the offense by backup QB Byron Leftwich and shut down by the Pittsburgh defense all game long, the win gives the Ravens a two game lead over the Steelers plus the head-to-head tie-breaker, almost leading one to expect the AFC North title is firmly in its grasp and a current NFL record 5th straight year in the playoffs seeming to be a virtually guarantee.

It doesn't matter who the players are, these two teams always play physical and close games. There are so many concerns coming out of this game but regardless, the Ravens won and are still the #2 team in the AFC, record-wise. The Ravens are 4-0 in the division and have now beaten the Steelers three straight times at Heinz Field.

Baltimore heads to play the San Diego next week and while the Chargers are playing poorly, they always play the Ravens tough. The Ravens then return home to face these same Steelers again and there is a good chance that Ben Roethlisberger will not be playing in that game either.

For now, the ugly way in which the Ravens won this game can classically be disregarded by the classic statement, "a win is a win,"