Pittsburgh ? Just like their previous game, the Ravens put a Steelers quarterback out with an injury. They accomplished little else on a day the Steelers made certain they won’t leave Pittsburgh until the Super Bowl if they keep winning.

Still-unbeaten Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes in a run-heavy offense before being pulled from a 20-7 Steelers victory Sunday with an unspecified rib injury caused by a blindside hit on a scoring pass.

Pittsburgh (14-1) wrapped up home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs and a first-round bye. But a team already playing without six injured regulars sustained two more injuries, as Roethlisberger and cornerback Deshea Townsend (broken right hand) left during the fourth quarter.

“We have a lot of guys hurt right now, but now we control our own destiny,” wide receiver Hines Ward said. “Now teams are going to have to come in and deal with the weather, the field and our fans. You couldn’t ask for a better situation.”

Except to be healthier.

Roethlisberger was assisted off the field, a large clump of grass sticking out of the left side of his face mask, after being leveled by Terrell Suggs on a two-yard touchdown pass to Jerame Tuman.

Suggs was penalized for roughing the passer, but the play did not touch off any incidents.

Roethlisberger, who wears a protective jacket around his ribs like many NFL quarterbacks do, returned to complete throws of 26 yards to Plaxico Burress and nine to Jerome Bettis on Pittsburgh’s next drive early in the fourth quarter. But he was replaced by Tommy Maddox midway through the drive because, coach Bill Cowher said, “He grimaced every time he threw it.”

Roethlisberger’s injury was the lone worrisome note for the Steelers as they ran their franchise-record winning streak to 13 games and all but eliminated the Ravens (8-7) from playoff contention.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) gets off a second-quarter pass under pressure from Baltimore's Terrell Suggs (55). Roethlisberger and the Steelers beat Baltimore, 20-7, Sunday in Pittsburgh.

“You don’t like to lose, especially in this environment, in what pretty much is a playoff game for us,” Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller said.

Roethlisberger (14 of 19, 211 yards, one interception) probably won’t play Jan. 2 in Buffalo, but none of his teammates seemed overly concerned. Roethlisberger did not speak to reporters.

“Ben’s a tough guy, and I’m not worried at all about Ben,” Bettis said. “He wanted to keep going. He’s a competitor.”

Coincidentally, Roethlisberger became Pittsburgh’s starter when Maddox hurt his right elbow Sept. 19 against the Ravens. Maddox did not play again until Sunday.

Bettis ran for 117 yards in his sixth 100-yard game this season — all in place of Duce Staley (hamstring), who sat out for the sixth time in eight games.

Bettis also moved past Eric Dickerson on the NFL career rushing list with 13,294 yards to fourth on the career rushing list and closed to within 60 yards of his ninth 1,000-yard season.

“To go past Eric Dickerson is amazing, considering my role (as a backup) when the season started,” Bettis said.

Pittsburgh is assured of matching the best record in franchise history (14-2 in 1978) even if it loses at Buffalo.

“They’ve been on a roll, and it doesn’t seem like they’re stopping,” Ravens safety Ed Reed said. “But I still think we’re a better team than we displayed.”

Burress returned from a four-week layoff with a sore hamstring and made an immediate impact with three catches for 97 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger as Pittsburgh drove 80 yards in five plays on its opening possession.

Three times the Ravens advanced to at least the Pittsburgh 35 without scoring, with Jamal Lewis held to 26 yards on 14 carries.

The Ravens scored only eight touchdowns while going 3-5 on the road.

Baltimore briefly tied it at 7 on Jamal Lewis’ five-yard TD run, but Joey Porter’s interception of Boller’s tipped pass led to Jeff Reed’s 23-yard field goal that made it 10-7.

The Steelers took control by starting the second half with a 14-play, 71-yard drive that featured 12 consecutive runs ahead of Tuman’s touchdown catch.

“We came out and hit them with some good run plays, and I think we realized, ‘Hey, these plays are working, let’s stick to them they stop them,'” fullback Dan Kreider said.

Seahawks 24, Cards 21

Seattle — Shaun Alexander rushed 30 times for 154 yards with three touchdowns, and Darrell Jackson caught six passes for 101 yards as Seattle clinched a playoff berth.

The Seahawks (8-7) will clinch the NFC West if Philadelphia beats St. Louis tonight. It’s the first time Seattle has made the playoffs in consecutive years since 1983-84.

Josh McCown threw a pair of 29-yard TD strikes to Larry Fitzgerald in the fourth quarter, pulling the Cardinals (5-10) to 24-21 with 2:30 to play. He also found Fitzgerald for a score with 11:32 remaining.

Patriots 23, Jets 7

East Rutherford, N.J. — Tom Brady and New England dominated division rival New York to clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs. The Jets (10-5) must win their finale at St. Louis next week to be assured of making the AFC playoffs as a wild card.

The Patriots (13-2), coming off an embarrassing 29-28 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, looked completely different.

Brady threw two touchdown passes and went 21-of-32 for 264 yards after tying a career high with four picks against Miami.

The Patriots defense, which surrendered an 11-point lead with four minutes remaining in the Miami game, harassed Chad Pennington all day and stopped NFL leading rusher Curtis Martin.

Despite the record, the Patriots won’t get home-field advantage; Pittsburgh locked it up with a victory over Baltimore.

Panthers 37, Bucs 20

Tampa, Fla. — Jake Delhomme threw for 214 yards and four touchdowns, helping the defending NFC champions move within a victory of clinching a playoff berth.

The Panthers (7-8) won for the sixth time in seven games after a 1-7 start and can earn a wild-card spot by beating New Orleans at home Sunday.

Tampa Bay (5-10) is eliminated.

Delhomme threw TD passes of 15 and six yards to Muhsin Muhammad, and the Panthers blocked a punt to set up a field goal as the first half expired to build a 17-7 lead.

Carolina marched 70 yards after the second-half kickoff to go up 24-7 on Delhomme’s four-yard TD throw to Keary Colbert.

Texans 21, Jaguars 0

Jacksonville, Fla. — Domanick Davis ran for a career-high 150 yards and a touchdown, and the Texans crippled Jacksonville’s postseason chances.

Because Baltimore lost at Pittsburgh, the Jaguars (8-7) could have taken control of the final AFC wild-card spot with a victory against Houston (7-8). Instead, they need to win next week at Oakland and get some help to return to the postseason for the first time since 1999.

Jacksonville, playing without starting running back Fred Taylor, managed just 126 total yards as Houston got the first shutout in its three-year history.

Saints 26, Falcons 13

New Orleans — Aaron Brooks scored on a fourth-down 1-yard run and Michael Lewis had a 96-yard kickoff return to keep the Saints (7-8) in playoff contention.

Atlanta (11-4) rested Michael Vick, because of a sore shoulder, after clinching a first-round bye in the playoffs.

The Falcons also rested two other key offensive players: tight end Alge Crumpler and running back T.J. Duckett.

Bills 41, 49ers 7

San Francisco — Willis McGahee rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns on an injured knee, Lee Evans caught two scoring passes, and the Bills easily earned their sixth straight victory.

Drew Bledsoe went 21-of-32 for 172 yards and a touchdown for the Bills (9-6), whose longest winning streak since 1990 has them alive in their quest to become just the second team in NFL history to make the playoffs after starting 0-4.

Kevan Barlow rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown with 6:19 to play for the 49ers (2-13), who stayed on track for the first pick in the upcoming draft.

Bengals 23, Giants 22

Cincinnati — Keiwan Ratliff’s 42-yard punt return set up Jon Kitna’s four-yard touchdown pass to Chad Johnson with 44 seconds left, rallying the Bengals.

It was the eighth straight loss for the Giants (5-10) and a jubilant ending to another disappointing home season for the Bengals (7-8).

Eli Manning’s elusive first victory in six starts was there for the taking after Steve Christie kicked his fifth field goal for a 22-17 lead with just over five minutes left. Kitna’s fourth-down pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh kept the Bengals’ final drive alive.

Cowboys 13, Redskins 10

Irving, Texas — Vinny Testaverde silenced the boos from fans who wanted him benched with a 39-yard touchdown to Patrick Crayton with 30 seconds left that gave the Dallas its fourth straight win over Washington and 14th in 15 games.

Dallas (6-9) fell behind 10-6 with 6:44 left on a five-yard touchdown pass from Patrick Ramsey to Robert Royal.

Dallas took over at its 25 with 1:25 left and threw three straight incompletions, then hit Crayton for 15 yards on fourth-and-10.

Testaverde hit Jason Witten for 14 yards and Richie Anderson for seven more. Facing third-and-three, he threw deep to Crayton down the right sideline, and the seventh-round pick caught it in stride for his first career touchdown.

Lions 19, Bears 13

Detroit — Detroit was fortunate to avoid a second straight heartbreaking loss after Chad Hutchinson appeared to throw a 43-yard, game-tying touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian with 1:26 left. But it was ruled incomplete and upheld by replay.

Kevin Jones ran for 123 yards for the Lions to join Barry Sanders as Billy Sims as the only Detroit rookies to surpass 1,000 yards rushing.

Dolphins 10, Browns 7

Miami — Olindo Mare kicked a 51-yard field goal with seven seconds left, and Miami edged Cleveland, prompting a big cheer from the 20,000 fans who remained until the finish.

Jim Bates won in the matchup of interim coaches against Terry Robiskie. Bates already knows he’ll be replaced after the season by LSU coach Nick Saban.