PITTSBURGH — Fittingly enough on a night when a can't-lose game unexpectedly became a close one, the Pittsburgh Steelers nearly got tripped up on the word "easy." And on the easiest play in football.

But with Ben Roethlisberger leading them downfield on a gimpy knee, the Steelers overcame a botched snap and rallied to beat the Baltimore Ravens 20-19 on Jeff Reed's 37-yard field goal with 1:36 to play Monday night.

"It was ugly," linebacker Joey Porter said. "But we'll take it."

The Steelers led the underdog Ravens 17-16 in the fourth quarter when rookie long snapper Greg Warren needed only to put the ball into punter Chris Gardocki's hands. But in what coach Bill Cowher called "a first" for him in the NFL, Warren misheard the snap count and prematurely sent the ball sailing off blocking back Sean Morey's leg.

The ball wound up in the Ravens' hands, and not Gardocki's, at the Steelers 45. And the Ravens took advantage by driving for Matt Stover's third field goal of the quarter and an improbable 19-17 lead with 3:27 remaining.

"The two words are `easy' and `ready,'" Cowher said of the misheard snap call. "They both have 'e' in them."

But after losing their last two home games in similar fashion, on a field goal on the final play against New England and in overtime to Jacksonville on a turnover, the Steelers (5-2) found a way to win a game they supposedly had no chance to lose.

Especially after a team that went 8-0 at home last season seemed on the verge of a third consecutive home loss. However, this game wasn't supposed to be nearly this close, not with the Ravens (2-5) missing their two best defensive players in the injured Ed Reed and Ray Lewis and Baltimore's offense in disarray after going seven consecutive quarters without a touchdown. Also, the Ravens have lost seven consecutive road games.

But the Steelers should know nothing comes easy against the Ravens, who had won two of their last three against them.

"I defy anybody to show me one frame of film that doesn't show us playing as hard as we could," Ravens coach Brian Billick said. "This group of guys had a lot of circumstances working against them, but they almost beat one of the best teams in the league."

Of course, almost doesn't count in a league that rewards only victories and not effort. The Steelers remain a half-game behind AFC North leader Cincinnati (6-2), while the Ravens have all but tumbled out of the race with a half season to play. About their only chance to get back into contention is to sweep their two games against the Bengals and their rematch against Pittsburgh over the next month.

"I think this was a character check of the team," Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith said. "Good teams have to pull out the wins when they don't play their best, and that's what we did."

Roethlisberger, bothered by a sore knee after catching a cleat in the turf while being hit in the first quarter, threw touchdown passes to rookie tight end Heath Miller on the opening drive of each half.

With the Ravens limiting the Steelers to 101 yards rushing a week after they ran for 221 yards against Cincinnati, Roethlisberger threw twice as much as he did against the Bengals and went 18-of-30 for 177 yards.

"Hopefully this proves we can win the game if we throw the ball," said Roethlisberger, who missed one game after injuring his left knee during a 24-22 victory in San Diego on Oct. 10 — also a Monday night game.

Still, the Steelers had little offense — two Reed field goals — except for the two start-of-the-half drives, and that allowed the Ravens to hang around. Stover kept them in it, making 4-of-5 field-goal attempts in a stadium where visiting kickers make only 67 percent of their attempts. Also, Anthony Wright threw a 13-yard TD pass to Chester Taylor while going 25-of-44 for 252 yards.

Baltimore owner Steve Bisciotti gave his players a pep talk they credited with boosting their confidence in a stadium where they haven't won since 2001.

"I think that got us all pumped up," linebacker Bart Scott said. "He wanted to win as much as anybody in the locker room. We were missing some pretty big guys, but I think we did a darned good job against them."

Even if it wasn't quite good enough.

"There are no moral victories in the NFL," Billick said. "You either win or lose and we lost ... but it is something we can and will build on."

Notes: Ravens RB Jamal Lewis had 61 yards on 17 carries and, two years after rushing for 2,066 yards, still hasn't had a 100-yard game this season. ... Steelers QB Charlie Batch didn't play, but again was the backup rather than Tommy Maddox, who had four turnovers in the Jacksonville loss. ... The Ravens last were 2-5 in 1999, when they finished 8-8. ... Roethlisberger is 18-1 in the regular season. ... The Steelers are 11-0 in Monday night home games under Cowher.