Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) passes as Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt (90) pressures him during the first half of Sunday's game in Pittsburgh. (AP photo)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — John Harbaugh went for the win, and it didn’t work out for the Baltimore Ravens.

Lamar Jackson led Baltimore to a touchdown with 12 seconds to play, but his throw on the 2-point conversion was too far in front of tight end Mark Andrews. That oh-so-close play sent the Ravens to a 20-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

The Ravens loss vaults the 8-4 New England Patriots, who were 2-4 at one point, to the top seed in the AFC heading into tonight’s AFC East showdown at the Buffalo Bills.

Harbaugh pointed to the play of his injury-depleted secondary — a list that now includes star Marlon Humphrey, who left in the second half with an issue Harbaugh did not disclose — as the main reason to avoid overtime.

“We tried to win the game right there,” Harbaugh said. “We were pretty much out of corners at that point in time. It was an opportunity for us to win the game right there.”

Ben Roethlisberger threw his second fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson, and the ensuing 2-point conversion to Pat Freiermuth gave Pittsburgh a 20-13 lead with less than two minutes remaining.

But Jackson and the Ravens (8-4) weren’t finished.

Jackson overcame a false start and a sack during the Ravens’ eight-play, 60-yard scoring drive. Jackson also converted a pair of third downs, including a third-and-14 and a third-and-5, which resulted in a 6-yard touchdown grab by Sammy Watkins.

But rather than turn to star kicker Justin Tucker for an almost automatic 35-yard extra point, the Ravens went for the knockout punch.

“I was in the moment,” Jackson said. “We just scored. I was cool with it. I wanted to win. I didn’t want to go to overtime anyways.”

The Steelers, as they did throughout the day, brought pressure during the 2-point conversion attempt. Star linebacker T.J. Watt hurried Jackson’s throw to an open Andrews, and the ball went off the tight end’s fingertips in the flat and bounced away.

“T.J. Watt’s got range,” Jackson said. “He’s a long guy. I had to throw around him and try to make something happen. That’s all. Just came up short.”

Jackson was sacked seven times. Watt had a career-high 3 1/2 sacks and Chris Wormley, who was acquired in a March 2020 trade with Baltimore, finished with 2 1/2 sacks.

“Seven sacks is too many,” Harbaugh said. “It’s way too many. That’s on us as a coaching staff to get that cleaned up.”

It was the third game in series history between the Ravens and Steelers decided by one point. The Steelers have won all three of those games — all started by Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger threw for 236 yards and engineered his 39th fourth-quarter comeback, but it took a last-second defensive stand on a 2-point play to help Pittsburgh (6-5-1) end a three-game winless streak.

“You saw the play,” Harbaugh said. “It’s a game of inches. That’s football. It’s just that close.”

Baltimore visits Cleveland for another key division game on Sunday. The Ravens, who lead the AFC North, beat Cleveland 16-10 on Nov. 28.

PATRIOTS-BILS NOTES

The Patriots had an 11-year run of winning the AFC East end last year, when they finished third, and Buffalo claimed its first division title since 1995. … New England has won six straight, the team’s best streak since opening the 2019 season 8-0. The Patriots have won six or more in a row 15 times since 2001, which marks the most in the NFL over that span. Green Bay is second in that category with eight runs of six or more wins. … The Patriots are 5-0 on the road this season, and have finished undefeated on the road twice in franchise history (2007 and 2016). … New England’s defense enters the week allowing a league-low 15.8 points per game. Since 2001, the PSTATS AND STUFF: The Patriots had an 11-year run of winning the AFC East end last year, when they finished third, and Buffalo claimed its first division title since 1995. … New England has won six straight, the team’s best satriots have allowed 20 points per game or fewer 13 times, tied for the second most in the NFL over that span. … The Patriots lead the NFL with 19 interceptions. They also have returned three of them for touchdowns, tied with Dallas for the league lead. The Patriots have four takeaways in each of their past two games. … RB Damien Harris leads the Patriots with a career-high eight rushing TDs. He has three 100-yard rushing games. … TE Hunter Henry has seven touchdown receptions and needs one more to match the eight he had as a rookie with the Chargers in 2016. Rob Gronkowski is the only Patriots tight end to reach 10 TD receptions in a season. … WR Kendrick Bourne has 42 catches for 623 yards and five TDs. He needs eight more receptions and 45 more yards to set single-season personal highs in both categories. … LB Matt Judon has a team-leading 11 1/2 sacks. With his next sack he’ll join Chandler Jones (12 1/2 in 2015) and Mike Vrabel (12 1/2 in 2007) for the most sacks in a season by a player under Bill Belichick. … K Nick Folk enters the week with an NFL-leading 31 field goals. Since the 1970 merger, the Patriots have had a player finish first in the NFL in field goals five times. Stephen Gostkowski was the last in 2014. … The Bills haven’t won consecutive games since winning four in a row with a 38-20 victory at Kansas City on Oct. 10. … Allen has eight TDs and eight turnovers (seven interceptions, one lost fumble) in his past four outings. … With two interceptions against New Orleans, Allen improved his career record to 18-15 in the regular season when committing a turnover. … WR Stefon Diggs has four TDs receiving in the past three outings, and has never had a four-game TD streak in his seven-year career. Diggs had nine catches for 145 yards and three TDs in Buffalo’s last meeting with New England. … RB Matt Breida has combined for 17 carries for 105 yards and a TD, and six catches for 67 yards and two scores in his past three games after being inactive in six straight. … Dawson Knox is tied with New England’s Henry for the NFL lead with seven TDs among tight ends, and tied for second overall in TDs receiving. … S Jordan Poyer has five interceptions including two in his past three outings.

FANTASY TIP: Difficult to trust Jones against a Bills defense which, since the start of the 2019 season, has gone 13-1 against opposing quarterbacks with 16 or fewer starts. Buffalo’s only loss came against Jacksonville’s Trey Lawrence four weeks ago. In those 14 games, the Bills have allowed 10 TDs passing and combined for 22 interceptions and 34 sacks.