BALTIMORE -- The Pittsburgh Steelers, and Plaxico Burress in particular, had the last word in their running duel with the Baltimore Ravens.
Pittsburgh clinched the AFC Central title Sunday night, dominating the clock and the defending Super Bowl champs in a 26-21 victory that culminated a week of trash talk between the two division rivals.
In the days leading up to the game, Burress insisted that Pittsburgh "beat up" the Ravens in the last game between the teams, a 13-10 Baltimore victory.
Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe responded by tagging Burress with the nickname, "Plexiglas."
On a night when Stewart threw for a career-high 333 yards, Burress was his favorite target, making eight catches for a career-best 164 yards and a touchdown to help the Steelers (11-2) win their sixth straight.
"Plexiglas bends, but it don´t break," Burress said afterward. "When they say I don´t work hard, stuff like that, it puts a little pep in my step. It makes me want to show those guys they´re not the only ones in this division that can play football."
Message received.
"They played a game worthy of Central Division champions," Ravens coach Brian Billick said. "They´re going to be a team to reckon with down the line."
While Pittsburgh will enter the playoffs for the first time since 1997 as division champs, the Ravens (8-5) can only hope to duplicate last season´s run to the Super Bowl, when they went the distance as a wild card entrant.
"The focus is just to get into the playoffs. It should be an open field," Billick said.
It was the sixth straight win for the Steelers, who have not lost since Kris Brown missed four field-goal attempts in a 13-10 defeat against the Ravens last month.
Brown went 2-for-3 this time, and Stewart led two touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to turn a close game into a runaway. Despite playing without leading rusher Jerome Bettis behind him, Stewart completed 20 of 31 passes in guiding an offense that held the ball for 41 minutes, five seconds.
"That´s the Pittsburgh Steeler philosophy: Keep the ball," Pittsburgh center Jeff Hartings said. "It helps our defense and makes the other team get impatient sometimes."
Bettis missed the game with a groin injury, but he wasn´t really missed.
Stewart put the Steelers ahead for good with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Burress late in the first half, then connected with Bobby Shaw on a 90-yarder to make it 19-7 with 8:53 left.
"We did a lot of talking and didn´t back it up," Sharpe said. "They did a lot of talking, and they did back it up."
Shaw had two receptions for 100 yards; his 90-yarder was tied for the longest in franchise history.
Pittsburgh has won five straight in Baltimore and is 4-0 at PSINet Stadium. It was only the second time the Ravens have lost at home since last October.
"I think they spent all their time talking about what they were going to do to us, while we stayed focused all week," Pittsburgh safety Lee Flowers said.
Baltimore quarterback Elvis Grbac, who missed the first game between the teams, was 20-for-38 for 159 yards and two scores. He had only nine completions for 68 yards through three quarters.
"We´re going to have to win two of the next three -- that´s my guess -- to get to the playoffs," Billick said. "We´re capable of winning the next three games."
Matt Stover´s NFL record of kicking a field goal in 38 straight games came to an end.
Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who was in the center of the trash talk battle during the week, was credited with 16 tackles. But Baltimore never led after falling behind 13-7 on Burress´ 25-yard TD catch shortly before halftime.
The Ravens closed to 19-14 on a 14-yard TD pass from Grbac to Qadry Ismail with 6:36 left, but Stewart completed a 38-yarder to Burress to set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Dan Kreider with 3:05 remaining.
Baltimore scored with 1:14 to go on a 5-yard pass from Grbac to Brandon Stokley. The Steelers then recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.
Notes: Ravens DT Sam Adams was inactive. He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on 11/28. ... The Steelers´ six-game winning streak is their longest since 1995. ... Baltimore CB James Trapp left the game in the second quarter with a groin injury.
