Baltimore Ravens (7-4) running back Justin Forsett's career day powered his team past the struggling New Orleans Saints (4-7), beating them 34-27 on "Monday Night Football."

Forsett, who was originally signed to be a third-string back-up for Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce, finished the night with 182 yards on 22 carries, grinding out two touchdowns, forcing a three-way tie for second place in the AFC North between the Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns.

"The offensive line did a great job of making those lanes open for me," Forsett said after the game. "I just tried to seize the moment."

The Ravens running game allowed for their passing game to flourish, with quarterback Joe Flacco going 18-for-24, throwing for 243 yards and connecting with Steve Smith for a touchdown. Smith caught four passes for 89 yards on the night, while Torrey Smith made five catches for 98 yards in Baltimore's key victory on the road.

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Flacco has been very impressed with what Forsett has brought to the team, who was averaging 5.4 yards per carry going into Monday night's game and averaged 8.3 yards per rush against the Saints.

"The work he's putting in, the results he's getting and what he's doing for this team was huge," Flacco said. "He's not letting the guy tackle him in the hole with his arms or anything like that. He's breaking those little things."

With three teams tied for second-place, all of them just a game behind the NFC North leader Cincinnati Bengals (7-3-1), every game is important, with room for mistakes very minimal.

"That was a really special win " Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh said. "You are going to have to win a lot of games to make the playoffs in our conference."

Saints quarterback Drew Brees had a stand out game despite the loss, going 35-for-45, throwing for 420 yards and three touchdowns. Tight end Jimmy Graham caught two of those touchdowns, making six catches for 47 yards on the day.

But Baltimore's defense put constant pressure on Brees, who was sacked four times and had his only interception of the day returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter by Saints strong safety Will Hill.

"I'd seen Brees in trouble," Hill said. "He's going to look for his number one guy when he's under that duress. As soon as he threw the ball, I'd seen that it was a little bit behind him, so I took that opportunity and ran with it."

New Orleans, who despite an abysmal below-.500 record could still make the playoffs, had a shot at separating themselves from the pack in the race for the lead in the NFC South. But the loss has them tied with the Atlanta Falcons and locked in second place with the Carolina Panthers (3-7-1) and Tampa Bay (2-9), who are also within reach of the only playoff berth for the division.

"We've got to make sure we've got enough thick skin and be able to have the mental and physical toughness to bounce back and get ready to play next week, because we're playing obviously an important game," Saints head coach Sean Payton said.

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