PITTSBURGH - There's no question that whenever the Pittsburgh Steelers strap on their helmets to play the Baltimore Ravens, the game becomes a battle of wills.

In Pittsburgh's 20-7 victory Sunday at Heinz Field, the Steelers were dominating their rivals in the statistical fight, holding a 252-150 edge in total yards as the second half began, but they held only a 10-7 advantage on the scoreboard.

That changed soon after Pittsburgh took the kickoff to open the third quarter.

The Steelers offense got the ball at its own 29 and ran it right down the Ravens' throats for a 14-play 71-yard scoring drive that featured 12 consecutive running plays to give Pittsburgh a 17-7 lead.

Pittsburgh head coach Bill Cowher said such feats at such a crucial time are vital to a team's success.

"The first possession on offense, the first possession on defense, the first kickoff and the first kickoff return is as important of a possession as there is because your are re-establishing what momentum you have, (and) what you are trying to establish in the second half," Cowher said.

Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca showed he was on the same page as his coach.

"We just wanted to come out and re-establish ourselves and kind of set the tone for the second half," Faneca said.

"The way we did it, we didn't even know until we came off the field," he added about the length of the 8-minute, 34-second drive. "We were just going down the field a chunk here, a chunk there."

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger started the drive with a 7-yard pass to Hines Ward before turning the work over to running backs Jerome Bettis and Verron Haynes and the offensive line on 12 consecutive rushing plays before Roethlisberger lofted a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jerame Tuman for the score.

The Steelers were off and running on the drive when they picked up 41 yards on the first five plays after the pass to Ward, as the Pittsburgh offensive line cleared the way for Bettis on three runs of 7, 3 and 11 yards."It was just a matter of pounding on them," Bettis said. "We've been doing that all year long. It made no sense to change now."With a first down at the Baltimore 43, Haynes gave Bettis a breather and ripped off his own 11-yard run before carrying the ball three more times for a total of 17 yards."When we are able to move the ball, especially running, it's definitely a plus," Haynes said. "They were kind of fatigued in that drive and we were able to keep pounding them and moving the ball."Bettis returned on the next play, when the Steelers had a second-and-7 at the Baltimore 15 before running for six yards. He was stuffed on third down for no gain, setting up Roethlisberger for a 2-yard sneak up the middle for a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line.Roethlisberger handed off to Bettis one more time for a gain of a yard before throwing his touchdown pass to Tuman on third down."Certainly, to come out, take the ball down, use up the clock, convert a fourth down and hit the big third down pass, it was huge," Cowher said.Steelers center Jeff Hartings said the drive hit the Ravens' psyches harder than it hit their bodies."It didn't do so much physically. I think mentally it did some things to their ego to take it all the way down the field." Hartings said.Bettis agreed and saw the drive as the game's turning point."There comes a point in every game when you have to test their will and see if they can stop you," Bettis said. "We ran it and they couldn't stop it, and I think it turned the game."