With a stutter step and shoulder fake to his right, Baltimore Ravens running back Justin Forsett seemed to throw New Orleans’ defense off balance for a moment.

That was all he needed to burst through a hole to his left and sprint 20 yards untouched for a game-sealing touchdown.

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

Forsett rushed for a career-high 182 yards and two touchdowns, and Baltimore beat New Orleans 34-27 on Monday night to hand the Saints their third consecutive loss.

Will Hill had a 44-yard interception return for a goahead score in the third quarter. Steve Smith caught four passes for 89 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown, and the Ravens (7-4) stayed within a half-game of AFC North leader Cincinnati (7-3-1).

Forsett, whose 5.4 yards per carry coming into the game led all NFL running backs, averaged 8.3 yards per rush. His first scoring run went for 13 yards in the second quarter.

“Justin — awesome job, obviously, all year. The work he’s putting in, the results he’s getting and what he’s doing for this team was huge,” said Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who passed for 243 yards and a touchdown. “He’s not letting the guy tackle him in the hole with his arms or anything like that. He’s breaking those little things.”

Drew Brees passed for 420 yards and three touchdowns for New Orleans (4-7), which remained tied for first in its anemic division with Atlanta, a loser against Cleveland a day earlier. Now, the Saints and Falcons have the dubious distinction of being the first teams in NFL history to occupy first place in a division while three games under .500.

“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,” said coach Sean Payton, whose club visits Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Jimmy Graham had two TD catches for the Saints, who had won 14 straight home night games.

Brees was sacked four times, and his pivotal interception came as he threw under pressure from Terrell Suggs. The pass was behind Graham, allowing Hill to snag it with nothing but open field in front of him. The play broke a 17-all tie, and New Orleans never recovered.

“I’d seen Brees in trouble. He’s going to look for his No. 1 guy when he’s under that duress,” Hill said. “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.”