On a day when most of the playoff races got tighter, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the only team to clinch a berth. By inches.

The Steelers clinched the AFC North, scoring the only touchdown of the game on a 4-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes with 43 seconds left to beat Baltimore, 13-9. The call was so close it had to be reviewed and even after referee Walt Coleman ruled it a score, Ravens coach John Harbaugh continued to protest.

The Steelers (11-3) are now on track to secure home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs because the Titans (12-2) lost in Houston, 13-12. So if Pittsburgh wins in Nashville next week and then again at home the final week against Cleveland, it is the top seed.

A look at the tight playoff races:

AFC

The Titans and Steelers have clinched the South and North.

But the East remained a three-way race among 9-5 teams: the New York Jets, Miami and New England, all of whom won yesterday.

The Jets and Dolphins meet in the Meadowlands the final Sunday and if both win next week — New York at Seattle and Miami at Kansas City — the winner takes the division.

The Patriots, who have Arizona at home and are at Buffalo, would have to take their chances with a wild-card spot if they can get it because the Jets would finish with a better division record and the Dolphins with a better conference record.

New York stayed alive by beating the Bills, 31-27, when Abram Elam sacked J.P. Losman and Shaun Ellis returned the fumble for the winning touchdown with 1:54 left.

Denver (8-6), entered the day needing a win or a San Diego loss to clinch the West. But the Broncos lost in Carolina as expected, 30-10; San Diego beat Kansas City, 22-21, to go to 6-8.

The Broncos and Chargers meet in San Diego on the final weekend, so San Diego has a shot if it wins at Tampa next week and Denver loses at home to Buffalo.

Indianapolis (10-4) won its seventh straight game by beating winless Detroit and leads the wild-card race. Baltimore (9-5) finishes with Dallas at home and at Jacksonville as it competes with whoever among the Jets, Dolphins and Patriots doesn't win the East for a wild-card spot — unless it can catch Indy.

NFC

Nobody clinched anything in the day games, and the 20-8 loss by the Giants (11-3) to Dallas (9-5) last night kept Carolina from clinching a playoff spot. It put the Cowboys at the top of the wild-card standings.

The Panthers, who finish at the Giants and at New Orleans, can get home-field advantage if they win out.

Only New York and Arizona (8-6) have clinched playoff spots. The Cardinals, beaten at home by the Vikings 35-14 yesterday, won the weak West last week.

Tampa Bay and Atlanta (each 9-5) are alive in the South, although both must win out and hope the Panthers lose two. And Chicago (8-6) is a game behind Minnesota (9-5) in the North, so it can still make the playoffs as a division winner or a wild card.

Also alive for wild-card spots are Dallas and Philadelphia (7-5-1), which is at home to Cleveland tonight.