As it has been written before me, the NFL can be very fickle.

As my colleague Mike Kilroy wrote last Friday, teams can change their identities in less than a month. He also wrote that people can bury or laud teams one week to the next depending on a win or loss.

I’ll take that one step further.

Look at the Steelers’ 23-20 Sunday night loss to the Baltimore Ravens and see how one play can make a difference.

The Steelers entered the game at 6-2 and Baltimore at 5-2 with the Steelers having won six of their past seven games after a 35-7 season-opening loss to the Ravens.

Many had the Steelers, Patriots and Ravens at the top of the AFC and the favorites to reach the Super Bowl.

Pittsburgh still had that loss to the Ravens, but knocked off New England in impressive fashion 25-17 on Oct. 30.

So, with one play in Sunday’s loss, the Steelers basically went from arguably the top dog in the AFC to the third- or fourth-best team. How?

With the Steelers nursing a 20-16 lead, Baltimore had about 3 minutes to drive 92 yards at Heinz Field.

Baltimore moved methodically down the field against the Steelers’ softer prevent defense. With 8 seconds left, receiver Torrey Smith pulled in a 26-yard pass from Joe Flacco to give the Ravens the win.

If the Steelers hold there — Baltimore would have had time for one more play — the swing would have shifted overwhelmingly to the Steelers’ favor.

A 7-2 record and wins over Baltimore and New England would have cemented the Steelers as the team to beat in the AFC.

But on that one play, the Steelers fell to 6-3 with two losses coming against their AFC North rival Ravens, so they have the tiebreaker over Pittsburgh, plus the Bengals — the Bengals? — are tied with Baltimore at 6-2.

Also, Houston — which defeated Pittsburgh earlier in the season — is 6-3.

Where does that leave Pittsburgh? Oddly enough, I still consider them in the driver’s seat in the division.

Sure, Baltimore has the tiebreaker, but Pittsburgh is just one-half game behind and the Ravens have a tendency to let their guard down a lot — the offensive debacle against Jacksonville 12-7 and the first half of the Arizona game where they put themselves in a three-touchdown hole.

Granted they came back against the Cardinals, but Baltimore sometimes has its problems in gearing up for teams not named Pittsburgh.

The Bengals? They’re riding a five-game winning streak, but have defeated Buffalo, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, Seattle and Tennessee.

I have been impressed with quarterback Andy Dalton. He has helped the Bengals post 138 points in those five games, but things will get tougher for Cincinnati.

The Steelers schedule gets a little easier. After Sunday’s game against the Bengals, some serious R&R will go on for the team’s bye week.

It couldn’t have come at a better time. There’s a division title to be won.

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.