PITTSBURGH - After posting the best day of his professional career, Ravens tight end Todd Heap was denied the chance to cap his evening.

Heap caught seven passes for 146 yards and a touchdown in the Ravens' 34-31 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field yesterday. But he served as little more than a decoy on the Ravens' final offensive play from the Steelers' 11 as quarterback Jeff Blake attempted a lob pass to receiver Randy Hymes that was intercepted in the end zone by Dewayne Washington with 14 seconds left.

Hymes was double covered on the play, as was Heap.

"They had it covered," said Heap, who tied his career high in catches and posted a new high in yards. "They knew we needed to score. I was just hoping to get the ball thrown up, but Randy had been making plays, too. The bottom line was we didn't make the play."

Heap had found a favorable matchup split out as a receiver against Washington and the other smaller Pittsburgh cornerbacks much of the afternoon.

His 31-yard touchdown catch over Washington in the third quarter gave the Ravens their first lead of the day at 24-20.

"I thought we had all the momentum," Heap said.

"I'd been telling Blake if we get that kind of matchup, just put it up there and I'll go get it. When given those opportunities, you have to take advantage of it."

Heap made two receptions on the Ravens' final drive and helped get the team to the 11-yard line.

Hymes' 1-handed gem

Hymes caught just two passes against the Steelers, but both were for first downs and the latter saved the Ravens' final drive.

Hymes made one of the most impressive catches of the season, a one-handed gem on third-and-11 from the Ravens' 19 with just under two minutes left.

Cornerback Hank Poteat attempted to knock down Blake's pass but missed, allowing Hymes to pull in the reception with his left hand and take the ball down to the Steelers' 48.

"Travis [Taylor] and I were in a slot combination," said Hymes, whose first catch was for 43 yards in the first quarter and set up a touchdown. "When I went down the field and came back on the route, I thought I didn't have a chance on it. That one-hand grab, I guess the Lord was looking down on me."

Despite averaging 38 yards a catch, Hymes lamented the one he did not make on the Ravens' final offensive play, a heave from Blake into double coverage that Washington intercepted.

"The ball comes your way, you want to make that play. ... I can't complain about what the defense did to me," Hymes said. "I was doubled, but I had to go up and try to make a play. The only thing I could have done was knock the ball down."

Penalties again a factor

As is usually the case in Ravens losses this season, the team was hit with costly penalties.

Tony Weaver (roughing the passer), Chris McAlister (illegal contact), Gary Baxter (pass interference) and Chad Williams (face mask) were all hit with third-down penalties in the first half that kept touchdown drives alive.

Williams' came on a third-and-six from the Ravens' 6 after an incompletion from Pittsburgh quarterback Tommy Maddox.

"I was just trying to get him on the ground and my hand just happened to touch his face mask," Williams said. "It was not intentional. It was a good call because my hand did touch his face mask."

Baxter contains Burress

Steelers receiver Plaxico Burress, who has had some of his biggest games over the last two seasons against the Ravens, was relatively quiet yesterday.

Burress had just three catches for 52 yards matched up primarily against Baxter.

"That was the game plan the whole week for me to be matched up on Plaxico," Baxter said. "And for Chris to be matched up on Hines Ward."

It was a relatively good day for Baxter, who intercepted a Maddox pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown on the Steelers' first possession only to have it nullified by Weaver's roughing the passer penalty.

"I saw Tommy Maddox look over there, and I just jumped the play," Baxter said. "Luckily I was right. ... That [penalty] hurt."

Ricard to the rescue

He would go down as one of the unlikeliest of Ravens to have a multi-touchdown game, but fullback Alan Ricard did so yesterday, and both kept the game from getting away from the Ravens.

Ricard recovered a Jamal Lewis fumble from the Steelers' 2-yard line for the Ravens' first touchdown. Pittsburgh challenged whether Ricard had possession before he landed out of bounds, but the play was upheld and the game was tied at 7 in the first quarter.

"When I saw it, I just positioned my body so it wouldn't go out of bounds," Ricard said.

Ricard scored the Ravens' second touchdown on a 6-yard run in the second quarter that cut the Steelers' lead to 17-14.

Don't blame the wind

The tricky winds at Heinz Field did not play into coach Brian Billick's decision to go for the touchdown on the Ravens' final drive.

Kicker Matt Stover converted his only attempt (a 43-yarder in the third quarter) and the Ravens were driving into the closed end of the stadium.

"From what the 12-yard line, I'm going to go out on a limb here but I think Matt might have made that," Billick said.

Rare run

Maddox rushed for 20 yards in the previous 15 games this season and 32 yards in his previous five NFL seasons.

Then, facing a crucial third-and-10 situation at the Ravens' 41 midway through the fourth quarter, he darted through an opening for 21 yards.

"I was able to get through the line and scamper for the first down," Maddox said.

End zone

Ravens right guard Bennie Anderson left the game in the third quarter with an injured ankle that was in a cast afterward. ... The Steelers set single-season club records for completions (350) and passing yards (4,036), surpassing marks that stood since 1995, the last time they went to the Super Bowl.

Chuck Finder contributed to this article.

2003 schedule

The Ravens' non-divisional opponents for 2003:

Home ............... Away

Denver ............. Oakland

Kansas City ......San Diego

San Francisco .. Arizona

Seattle .............. St. Louis

Jacksonville .......Miami