By Larry Weisman, USA TODAY  BALTIMORE  There is plane geometry and plain old math and they intersected Sunday.  When referee Walt Coleman ruled that Pittsburgh receiver Santonio Holmes' feet were down in the end zone and he had possession of the pass, he never mentioned the football breaking the plane of the end zone. But he awarded Holmes a touchdown with 43 seconds left and the Pittsburgh Steelers not only won the game against the Baltimore Ravens but also the AFC North title as well.  The 13-9 triumph also lets the Steelers (11-3) dream about more than just one home playoff date. They can compete for the AFC's top seed when they play the Tennessee Titans (12-2) next week.  BOX SCORE: Steelers 13, Ravens 9  "Winning the division," coach Mike Tomlin said, "is the prerequisite for being the team we want to be."  The Ravens (9-5) remain in the wild-card chase, but bitterly. They led 9-6 with 3:36 to play and the Steelers pinned at their 8-yard line. Twelve plays later, the last swathed in controversy, they trailed a team that hadn't won here since 2002.  Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger rolled to his left, looked back toward the middle and threw to Holmes, who appeared to be coming out of the end zone as he made the reception. The ball was spotted at the 1-yard line by head linesman Paul Weidner but the NFL replay official in the booth signaled for another look. Coleman then ruled it a touchdown.  In a statement to a pool reporter, Coleman said "the ball was breaking the plane. He had two feet down. When he gained control of the ball, the ball was breaking the plane and then he fell into the field of play. But to have a touchdown, all you have to have is a catch which is the two feet down, possession and control of the ball breaking the plane." He said Weidner "felt like when the receiver gained possession of the ball, the ball was not breaking the plane of the goal line."  He had company in the Ravens' locker room. "A million times if you play it, of course he didn't get in," linebacker Ray Lewis said. "But that's the way they called it."  Holmes insisted it was a touchdown and hardly the game-decider. "If it wasn't overturned, we would have kicked a field goal and sent it to overtime," he said.  That touchdowns were so scarce is another simple function of math that begins with one and two — Pittsburgh ranked first in the NFL in total defense, Baltimore second. The teams punted 13 times and each turned the ball over twice. They combined to get inside the 20-yard line six times and kicked five field goals, the only touchdown coming in the final minute.  "This was a ridiculously tough football game," Tomlin said.  The Steelers tormented quarterback Joe Flacco with an array of blitzes and coverages, sacking him twice and intercepting two passes. The second sack proved the most critical. It came with 4:28 left to play and the Ravens, up 9-6, at the Steelers' 28-yard line. That was at least marginally in field goal range but linebacker Lawrence Timmons sacked Flacco for a 7-yard loss that was compounded by another 7 lost yards on a fumble.  "I was sliding to my left and wanted to get rid of the ball. That's what you've got to do in that situation, get rid of the ball," Flacco said.  The Ravens punted and Sam Koch put the ball out at the Pittsburgh 8-yard line. The Steelers then engineered their longest drive of the day, culminating in the touchdown that may or may not have actually been.  "I don't know that we had the confidence that we could do this," Tomlin said. "I think there was an overwhelming sense that we have to do this. That's how we play."  You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference.
The Pittsburgh Steelers used a second straight fourth-quarter comeback to earn another AFC North title. Santonio Holmes caught a controversial 4-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger with 43 seconds left, and the Steelers clinched their second...