Browns stun Steelers, 13-6

CLEVELAND - The Browns' long nightmare is over.

No matter what happens the rest of this season, fans will take the 13-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night at Cleveland Browns Stadium and ride it to Christmas and into New Years Day.

Wins by the Browns in this series are rarer than celestial sightings. The victory ended a 12-game winning streak in the series for the Steelers, who had won 18 of the previous 19 games in the series.

The playoff hopes for the Browns ended before the halfway point of the season. For the Steelers they came to a crashing halt in the most unlikely of venues.

The Browns improved their record to 2-11. The Steelers have lost five straight and have a 6-7 record.

There was no denying how important the win was to the Browns. It somewhat eased the pain of a difficult season, while providing fans who braved frigid temperatures for an unexpected treat.

"I did it for the fans," safety Mike Adams said after running straight to the "Dawg Pound" to celebrate with the fans. "They talk about beat Pittsburgh beat Pittsburgh. It's been a long time. I had to go down there and show them a little bit of love."

The win was huge for Browns coach Eric Mangini, who's been under fire. Whether or not it secures him a second year at the helm remains to be seen, but he wasn't thinking about that afterwards.

"The thing I'm happiest for is the group of guys in the locker room," Mangini said. "We all know how important games against Pittsburgh are. We hadn't been able to beat them for quite some time, and to be able to beat them is exciting. It's exciting for me and the team and hopefully for the city as well."

The game was far from a work of art on offense for either side. The cold, windy weather had something to do with the lack of points and yards. The Browns churned out 255 yards, while the Steelers managed just 216.

The key for the Browns was to keep Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger bottled up.

Roethlisberger is dangerous when he's able to sense the pass rush and either run the ball or scramble to find a passing lane.

The Browns took a page out of the Steelers' book of playing defense by going at Roethlisberger from all angles. The defense often showed a look in which all the linemen were standing.

Roethlisberger was sacked eight times, including twice each by Marcus Benard and Corey Williams.

"We didn't give him (Roethlisberger) a clean look," linebacker David Bowens said. "With Ben, what you want to do is confuse him at the line of scrimmage. You want to confuse the offensive linemen. You want them to slide the protection the wrong way. We were showing here and showing there, and we were able to confuse him."

Browns quarterback Brady Quinn finished 6-of-19 for 90 yards. Roethlisberger was 18-of-32 for 201 yards.

Roethlisberger had a chance to force a tie late in the fourth quarter. On first down from the Browns' 43 he was sacked by Kaluka Maiava and Brian Schaefering. His second-down pass for tight end Heath Miller was short. Miller caught a pass for 13 yards on third down, but Bowens broke up a fourth-down pass to seal the win.

The Browns took a 3-0 lead on a 29-yard field goal by Phil Dawson in the first quarter. Dawson added another 29-yard field goal in the second quarter to give the Browns a 6-0 advantage.

Chris Jennings completed a 74-yard, eight-play drive by the Browns with a 10-yard touchdown run around the right side to stretch the lead to 13-0.

Jeff Reed kicked a 27-yard field goal for the Steelers on the final play of the second quarter to cut the Browns' lead 13-3 at halftime.

Reed produced the only points of the second half with a 42-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Joshua Cribbs rushed for 87 yards on eight carries to lead the Browns on the ground. The Browns held a 171-75 advantage in rushing.

"It was a group effort," Browns guard Eric Steinbach said. "Special teams were running down making plays. (On defense), you talk about 11 guys running to the quarterback. It was an unbelievable effort on their part. They kept us in the game."

The Browns return to action Sunday, Dec. 20 at Kansas City.

mmclain@tribtoday.com