BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Jamal Lewis joined the exclusive 2,000-yard club, but fell short in his quest for history.
Lewis became the fifth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season as the Baltimore Ravens tuned up for the playoffs with a 13-10 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Coming into the game, Lewis needed 48 yards for 2,000 in a season and 154 to break Eric Dickerson's single-season record of 2,105 yards, set in 1984 for the Los Angeles Rams.
It looked like Lewis was on his way to the record as he rushed for 73 yards on seven carries, including a 25-yard touchdown, in the first quarter. But he was contained the rest of the night and gained 114 yards on 27 carries.
"Well, they made some adjustments, brought more guys in the box," said Lewis, who became just the fifth back in NFL history with 12 100-yard games in a season. "They just weren't going to let it happen. I'm not disappointed."
"The first couple of series, he was running well," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "Once we made some adjustments in the second quarter, I felt like we pretty much had him under control. It's too bad we didn't have adjustments in the first couple of series."
Lewis finished the season with 2,066 yards, the second-best single-season mark in league history. On the night, he surpassed Barry Sanders (2,053), Terrell Davis (2,008) and O.J. Simpson (2,003) for rushing yards in a season.
"Second-leading all-time, that ain't bad," Ravens coach Brian Billick said. "Came up short but that's not a real priority for us. You make a hell of a run at it and it is what it is."
Lewis also appeared to get a break when the contest went to overtime, but he had just two carries for three yards on the Ravens' only possession of the extra session.
Dickerson watched the game on television and at the conclusion of the contest he held up a sign that said, "19 years and counting," referring to his record.
Steelers linebacker Joey Porter said the Steelers wanted to prevent Lewis from getting the record.
"No, not against us," Porter said. "I mean, I didn't even want him to get to 2,000. But, he made a couple of big runs so he got to 2,000, but we weren't going to let him get the overall record. He got some yards, but he didn't get the record."
Matt Stover kicked a 47-yard field goal 3:28 into overtime, giving the Ravens the victory.
Baltimore (10-6), which won the AFC North Division earlier in the day when Cincinnati lost to Cleveland, will host Tennessee in the wild card round next Saturday.
Chris Hope scored on an 81-yard pass from Josh Miller off a fake punt in the third quarter for the Steelers (6-10), who closed a disappointing season.
Steelers running back Jerome Bettis, who may have been playing his final game with the team, rushed for 54 yards to move past Hall of Famer Jim Brown into sixth place on the all-time rushing list. He has rushed for 12,353 yards in 12 seasons.
"It's once in a lifetime," Bettis said. "It's an honor to pass a guy like that, who was possibly the greatest running back to ever play."
