but seemed to have gained his composure when he was shown on the full screen. Witten waved, smiled and tapped his chest around his heart several times as the crowd roared.INJURIESDallas LB Sean Lee pulled up with a hamstring injury w

BALTIMORE (AP) — In each of the last two years Byron Murphy Jersey , the Baltimore Ravens have been eliminated from playoff contention with late-season losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers.For the first time since 2014, these AFC North rivals will wrap up the season series before December. That doesn’t mean Sunday’s game is any less important to the skidding Ravens (4-4).“You know you have eight games left, and 4-4 is not where you want to be, obviously,” cornerback Jimmy Smith said. “Doesn’t mean your season is over, it just means that every game now is so much more critical.”Baltimore is only one game behind the first-place Steelers (4-2-1), who have won three straight since losing to the Ravens on Sept. 30. But the last thing the Ravens need now is to drop under .500 with a third successive defeat.“If you do math, and you’ve been through these playoff things, it gets sticky if you’re 9-7,” Smith said. “It gets sticky if you’re 10-6, so you know that you really want to go in there and win 11 games, at least. Being 12-4 is really the goal.”Unless the Ravens run the table, a highly unlikely occurrence, they’re at least going to have to perform much better than they have lately to end a run of three consecutive seasons without a playoff berth. Coming off a 36-21 loss at Carolina, Baltimore can jump into contention with its first sweep of the Steelers since 2015.“The sky is not falling,” safety Eric Weddle said. “It’s great that we get to go against Pittsburgh, a divisional opponent Andy Isabella Jersey , knowing we have to play at a high level.”The Steelers would love nothing more than to pad their lead in the AFC North, and at the same time make it that much tougher for the Ravens to reach the postseason.“It’s a big game for us. It’s a division game. It’s a road game. It’s Baltimore. Pick one, or all of the above,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said. “We have respect for this rivalry and our participation in it, and we’re preparing with that in mind.”More things to know about the Steelers-Ravens matchup:CRUISING CONNERThe Steelers are getting along just fine without wayward running back Le’Veon Bell, thanks in large part to second-year back James Conner .Conner is averaging 175.3 yards of total offense during Pittsburgh’s winning streak, a surge that started after Conner carried the ball just three times in the second half against Baltimore.“I’m just doing what I love to do,” Conner said.CLOSE SHAVERavens quarterback Joe Flacco showed up at practice this week without the beard he’s worn for the first eight weeks of the season.“I’ve been thinking about cutting it about every night for two weeks,” Flacco said. “It’s not like we’ve been winning with it. So, we’ve all got a little bit of superstition in us, I guess.”Perhaps he should have cut it a week ago. Flacco had his worst game of the season against the Panthers, going 22 for 39 for 192 yards, with one TD pass and two interceptions.BROWN DELIVERSNo active player has more catches (94) and yards receiving (1,149) against the Ravens in the regular season than Steelers wideout Antonio Brown.Covering Brown will serve as a litmus test for Smith, who began the season serving a four-game suspension and hasn’t quite gotten his A-game going yet.“Every game you’re going to go against somebody’s best,” Smith said, “but when you go against one of the guys they name as top in the league Zach Allen Jersey , it’s a chance to show what you’ve got and kind of peg yourself for where you’re at.”Surprisingly, Brown has only four career TDs against the Ravens.BURNED BURNSTime may be running out for Pittsburgh cornerback Artie Burns. The former first-round pick is enduring an uneven season and was benched last week for missing a walkthroughBurns might have to play out of necessity if Coty Sensabaugh’s toe injury continues to linger. Burns shrugged off his issues, but Tomlin offered a stern rebuke of the 23-year-old’s tardiness.“He was late, and we wanted to be focused with the guys who were wired-in appropriately where they needed to be in the hours leading up to kickoff,” Tomlin said. “And so, he suffered the consequences of that.”Pittsburgh’s secondary in general needs to play better than it did in the first meeting, when Flacco passed for 363 yards and two TDs.HELLO, NOVEMBERThe Ravens went 1-3 in October, but have cause for optimism because they’re 30-12 in November since coach John Harbaugh took over in 2008.“Don’t jinx it,” Flacco said when told of the stat.Then he might not want to know the Ravens are 7-0 at home in November against the AFC North under Harbaugh. ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kevin Byard secured the interception that sparked the sluggish Tennessee Titans and turned toward midfield.The flashback for the Dallas Cowboys was just as disheartening as the original.Byard mimicked Terrell Owens’ mocking celebration on the star logo at the 50-yard line from 18 years ago, Marcus Mariota accounted for three touchdowns and the Titans spoiled Amari Cooper’s Dallas debut with a 28-14 victory on Monday night.Article continues below ...The end-zone pick of Dak Prescott came after Mariota fumbled on the first two Tennessee possessions. Just as T.O. did at old Texas Stadium 18 years ago, Byard ran to midfield, under the huge videoboard at spacious AT&T Stadium, and spread his arms.Owens did it twice in a blowout San Francisco win over a bad Dallas team that time. This win by the Titans (4-4) ended their three-game losing streak while handing the Cowboys (3-5) their first loss in four home games and making their road to the playoffs a difficult one.“It was huge,” Mariota said of Byard, while adding that he didn’t see the celebration. “The defense has done an unbelievable job throughout the year in building us up. They found ways to give us plays Hakeem Butler Jersey , to get turnovers.”The Cowboys looked like the team headed for a blowout win, but led just 7-0 after Mariota’s early miscues because of Brett Maher’s missed 38-yard field goal on the opening possession and Prescott’s ill-advised throw into double coverage.“That was the difference. Simple as that,” said Prescott, who lost a fumble at his 40-yard line to set up Tennessee’s tiebreaking score in the third quarter. “Defense gives a turnover there. We’re up seven points and I go down there and try to force the ball and give it right back to them.”Cooper scored the first Dallas touchdown after DeMarcus Lawrence stripped the ball from Mariota . The two-time Pro Bowl receiver finished with five catches for 58 yards after coming over from Oakland in a trade for a first-round pick during the open week.Given another chance when what would have been a third straight fumble to start the game was overturned by a review that showed Luke Stocker didn’t have the ball long enough on a catch, Mariota led an 80-yard drive capped by Derrick Henry’s 1-yard plunge for a 7-7 tie.Mariota converted two third-and-9s with passes and a shorter third down with a run on his first TD drive, setting the stage for the Titans to convert 11 of 14 third downs.The Cowboys fell flat in 15-year tight end Jason Witten’s first trip home since retiring to become lead analyst for “Monday Night Football.”Dallas had just 108 yards in the second half — the bulk of those on a desperation drive down two scores late — and was booed several times at the end of failed drives.After getting sacked on third down with nobody realizing Tennessee had called timeout in a 7-7 game in the second quarter, Mariota completed a 36-yarder to Darius Jennings before a screen pass to Dion Lewis went 18 yards for a touchdown.Mariota broke a 14-14 tie in the third quarter when he pulled the ball out of Lewis’ gut at the last second and delivered a 7-yard shovel pass to Jonnu Smith to put the Titans ahead for good. Mariota’s 9-yard scoring run all but sealed things with 4:38 to go.Mariota was 21 of 29 for 240 yards without an interception and had 32 yards rushing. Lewis had 62 yards rushing and 60 receiving coming off a career-high 155 scrimmage yards in his last game.Star Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott finished with 61 yards after a hot start. Prescott was 21 of 31 for 243 yards and two scores — 4 yards to Cooper and 23 yards to Allen Hurns. The two turnovers were Prescott’s first at home this season.T.O. FLASHBACKThere was something else familiar about Byard’s celebration: a Dallas defender trying to do something about it.George Teague famously knocked Owens off the star back then, and Cowboys cornerback Byron Jones made a similar move on Byard and the group that joined the celebration. Owens seemed to get a kick out of the whole thing on Twitter.“I was actually expecting somebody to knock my head off,” said Byard, who thought about the possible celebration at the team hotel. “I was like, ‘If we get to the 50, if we get enough guys to the 50, we are just going to start dancing on the star.'”WITTEN TRIBUTEThe Cowboys paid tribute to Witten with a pregame video on the giant board hanging over the field. The franchise leader in games, catches and yards receiving wiped his eyes when a small inset of him was shown during the video, but seemed to have gained his composure when he was shown on the full screen. Witten waved, smiled and tapped his chest around his heart several times as the crowd roared.INJURIESDallas LB Sean Lee pulled up with a hamstring injury while trying to cover Smith on a 26-yard completion to the Titans tight end. Lee didn’t return. … Titans WR Taywan Taylor left with what coach Mike Vrabel said was a lower leg injury.UP NEXTTitans: Home against AFC East-leading New England next Sunday.Cowboys: At Philadelphia next Sunday in the first meeting with the NFC East rival.