BALTIMORE -- Toward the end of a meeting Saturday night with his defensive players, Tim Lewis used an analogy to remind them of what they would be facing against the Baltimore Ravens, a team that gives up touchdowns as grudgingly as they score them.
"I told the guys it was going to be a heavyweight fight," said Lewis, the Steelers' defensive coordinator. "And we weren't going to be Andrew Golota."
This fight between teams with the top two defenses in the AFC lasted more than two rounds. And it featured a meager total of 15 points. In the end, it was the Steelers who were left standing -- and a couple of distinctive streaks still intact -- after a 9-6 victory against the Ravens that moved them into second place in the AFC Central Division.
"We knew coming in it would be a hard-fought battle," said linebacker Jason Gildon. "And that's what we prepared for."
"We want our own identity," said nose tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen. "Between the lines, we played pretty good football."
The lines von Oelhoffen was referring to were the goal lines. That has become a "No Trespassing" zone for the Ravens, who were held without a touchdown for the fifth game in a row.
By holding the Ravens to two Matt Stover field goals, the Steelers ran their streak of not allowing a touchdown to 16 quarters. They have allowed just nine points in their past four games, and the only touchdown they surrendered during their five-game winning streak was a meaningless touchdown pass by Jacksonville's Jamie Martin with nine seconds remaining.
"I think this game probably meant a lot more to us," safety Brent Alexander said. "This one ranks up there with Jacksonville. [The Ravens] really do have a real good defense. Right now, we have a lot of confidence."
To be sure, the Ravens rushed for 135 yards on 28 carries -- rookie running back Jamal Lewis had 93 yards on 19 carries -- and quarterback Trent Dilfer threw for 152 yards in his first start for the Ravens. What's more, Dilfer connected with Lewis on a 40-yard pass-and-run early in the second quarter -- the longest completion against the defense in the past five games.
Most of that, though, came in the first half. At halftime, Lewis decided to put more pressure on Dilfer and ordered his defense to blitz more. "I didn't want to get tentative with all that motion they run," Lewis said. "At the beginning of the game, I was conservative." The result: Dilfer completed just 4 of 14 passes and the Ravens managed just 103 yards in the second half.
"We sat back too much [in the first half]," Lewis said. "So, in the second half, we said let's go get after them. That's what we do best."
The Ravens crossed midfield seven times, but, with the exception of their first possession of the game, never got farther than the Steelers' 31. That drive ended in a 49-yard field goal by Stover, who has accounted for Baltimore's past 46 points.
On their first possession, the Ravens got to the Steelers' 9, only to have Dilfer fumble the snap on third-and-2 and safety Lee Flowers recover. In the third quarter, when Baltimore got to the Steelers' 42 after a 19-yard Dilfer scramble, cornerback Dewayne Washington intercepted a deep pass for Qadry Ismail in the end zone to end that threat.
Stopping Ismail, who had five touchdown catches in the previous three games between the teams, was a primary concern. But the Steelers held him to three catches and 41 yards.
"We didn't care if they scored a touchdown or not," Flowers said. "The only thing we cared about is leaving this stadium with a win, whether it was 21-14 or 3-0. We came in with a focus and played a good game. If things go like we plan, we might see them again. We're not counting those guys out."
The Ravens, who have the NFL's No. 1 rush defense, held Jerome Bettis to 65 yards, the first time in four games he has been held under 100 yards. But it was the fifth consecutive game in which the Steelers, who have the AFC's No. 2 overall defense, held a quarterback under 200 yards passing.
"It was like two great fighters when they take the ring," Gildon said. "You anticipate them throwing some good shots and at the same time you want to throw your own good shots. That's the way it played out. We know they have a great defense. On the other hand, we feel as though we have a great defense as well. It was a matter of who's going to be left standing."
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