Brown Gets Kick Out of This Result

Kris Brown didn’t leave the field kicking himself this time.

Brown, who missed four field goals in a loss last week, was wide with a late attempt in regulation, then made his fifth field goal with 9:38 left in overtime Sunday to give the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 15-12 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

“It’s a little better feeling,” Brown said. “Last week was probably the longest, hardest week of my life. I’m just very happy to get the opportunity.”

Brown’s game-winning 32-yard kick was set up by Jerome Bettis, who ran for 48 of his 163 yards on Pittsburgh’s winning drive in overtime as the Steelers (6-2) stayed alone atop the AFC Central.

Brown missed a 45-yard attempt with 1:37 left in regulation to keep the score tied at 12-12. But the Steelers won the overtime coin toss, and behind Bettis, drove to the Browns’ 14.

“Kris told me to give him another chance,” Bettis said. “When we won the toss, I went to him and said, ‘I’m going to give you that chance to win it.’ And he did.”

On the first play of overtime, Bettis went left and gained 37 yards to the Browns’ 45, bowling over safety Percy Ellsworth and a few other Browns along the way. He carried six more times as the Steelers rode “The Bus” to set up Brown.

“I wanted the football,” Bettis said. “I’m not saying I wanted it 10 times. But the holes were there, and I just ran through them.”

Before sending Brown in on third down, Pittsburgh Coach Bill Cowher had a brief chat on the sideline with his kicker, who calmly drilled his winning kick and was mobbed by teammates.

Brown made field goals of 31, 27, 37, 37 and 32 yards.

After Brown missed the four field goals in a 13-10 loss against Baltimore last Sunday, Cowher sent him to Heinz Field for a special practice session on Wednesday.

“I gave Chris the game ball,” Cowher said. “I know how he would have felt if he would have sat with that last miss. I have a lot of confidence in him.”

And in his defense.

The Steelers’ top-ranked unit held the Browns to 187 yards, 95 after the first quarter, and sacked quarterback Tim Couch seven times--all in the second half.

For the second consecutive week, the Browns (4-4) were beaten by a player named Brown in overtime. In Chicago last Sunday, Bear safety Mike Brown’s interception return for a touchdown beat Cleveland 27-21.