"Everybody wanted to see if we could pass the ball when we were behind," offensive tackle Wayne Gandy said. "We were able to do that."

"That was supposed to be the No. 1 defense and we went out there offensively and had our way with them," wide receiver Hines Ward said of the Ravens. "For us to pass the ball like we did and run the ball like we did, that's really encouraging."

Gandy, who has a sore hamstring, missed the first game of his pro career, but from his vantage point on the sideline and in the locker room, he saw something that was nearly as encouraging as a victory would have been: Players handling the loss with the proper perspective, knowing that there are nine games left in the season and plenty of time for redemption.

"It's the best feeling that I've had after a loss in my entire time in football," he said. "The guys are, literally, (saying) `Now, we lost the game. Now, who wants to come play us next?' And that's a great attitude to have.

"There's not a lot of sulking or what will we do now or who's going to come in or who are we going to pick up off the waiver wire? It's really just, `Let's turn the lights back on Sunday and play again.' "

Next up for the Steelers are the Cleveland Browns, who surrendered a 21-7 lead in the final 28 seconds of regulation Sunday against the Chicago Bears and, then, lost in overtime. The Steelers play the Browns in Cleveland Stadium on Sunday.

Ward took it upon himself to analyze the Browns' mind-set after such an improbable defeat.

"Their loss hurt more than our loss," he said. "Their players are probably down more than we are."

But the Steelers' good feelings are tempered by their failure to score a touchdown in three trips inside the red zone - ketchup bottles not withstanding - bringing their season mark in that category to six of 18, the worst percentage in the AFC.

"Whenever you get down to the 20, bells have to go off and you have to get it in," Gandy said. "But that didn't happen."

Part of that can be blamed on the Steelers' inability to find Burress in the second half after he caught four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown before halftime.

"I didn't get a ball thrown to me the whole second half," he said.

The Ravens played more bump-and-run at the line of scrimmage, bringing safeties to the flanks to help cover the wide receivers. Burress said he can beat such coverage "eight out of 10 times" on fade routes when he's taller than the opposing cornerback. It didn't happen Sunday, though, against 5-foot-10 Duane Starks.

The Steelers went back to work yesterday, watching video of a game that got away, but it might be more uplifting than discouraging.

"Just by watching film, you see how you had a team down," linebacker Earl Holmes said. "It just hurts you when you know you didn't put them away."