The China Mail - Steelers battle past Ravens, Allen leads Bills comeback over Bengals

A series of contentious officiating decisions -- including a crucial disallowed fourth quarter touchdown -- left Baltimore coach John Harbaugh fuming as the Ravens slipped to a 27-22 defeat against divisional rivals Pittsburgh in Maryland.

The potentially pivotal win saw the Steelers take control of the AFC North divisional race, improving to 7-6 to lead the standings with the Ravens falling to 6-7 in second place.

"It's been an up and down season for all of us, a lot of people crushing us in the last week or so," Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.

"So to come in here in a hostile environment as the underdog and take the lead in the division is really special," added Rodgers, who ran for one touchdown and tossed another as he finished with 284 passing yards.

But the main talking point after a fiercely contested duel at the M&T Bank Stadium in Maryland came after the Ravens saw tight end Isaiah Likely have a touchdown chalked off in the fourth quarter.

Likely's score -- which would have given Baltimore a 28-27 lead with 2min 47sec remaining -- was initially awarded before being reversed on review after being deemed incomplete. The Ravens subsequently turned the ball over on downs and the Steelers hung on for the win.

Baltimore had also seen calls go against them earlier in the game, notably an apparent interception by Rodgers which was reversed.

"The explanation was that the third (footstep) didn't get down before the ball came out. That's what they said," Ravens coach Harbaugh said, who was also baffled by the overturned Rodgers interception. "I don't know why it was ruled the way it was on that one," he said.

- Snow-blanketed classic -

Elsewhere on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills rallied from a 28-18 fourth quarter deficit in a snow-blanketed classic in upstate New York to beat the Bengals 39-34.

Bills quarterback Allen was the catalyst for the comeback, producing a 40-yard touchdown run -- the longest rushing touchdown of his career -- to cut the Bengals lead to 28-25 with the extra point.

Christian Benford then picked off Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and galloped 63 yards into the end zone to put the Bills ahead and after another Burrow interception immediately afterwards, Allen's touchdown pass to Jackson Hawes pushed the lead to 39-28.

"The fight in this team is unbelievable," said Allen, who tossed three touchdowns with 251 passing yards. "We didn't have much hope, just a sliver -- but that's all we need.

"Our defense made some huge plays down the stretch and we found a way to get it done," added Allen after a win which improves the Bills record to 9-4 in the AFC East. New England lead the division at 11-2.

In other early games, the Indianapolis Colts suffered a devastating injury blow as quarterback Daniel Jones limped off with an Achilles injury in a 36-19 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Seattle Seahawks, meanwhile, improved to 10-3 at the top of the NFC West after routing the Atlanta Falcons 37-9.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a shock 24-20 loss at home to the New Orleans Saints in an NFC South divisional upset.

S.Wilson--ThChM