CLEVELAND -- Kris Brown wasn't perfect, but he was good enough to keep the Pittsburgh Steelers in first place in the AFC Central.

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Brown, who missed four field goals last week and was wide once Sunday, kicked his fifth field goal with 9:38 left in overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 15-12 victory over Cleveland.

"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 Jerome Bettis, who ran for 163 yards -- 58 on Pittsburgh's winning drive in OT -- as the Steelers (6-2) stayed alone atop the AFC Central.

With the score tied 12-12, Brown missed a 45-yard attempt with 1:37 left in regulation. But the Steelers got the ball to open OT, and, behind "The Bus," they 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."

Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher had a brief chat on the sideline with Brown, who was sent in on third down and calmly drilled his winning kick before being mobbed by teammates.

Brown made kicks from 31, 27, 37, 37 and 32 yards Sunday. After the game, Cowher said he gave his kicker the game ball.

The Steelers' top-ranked defense held the Browns to just 187 yards and sacked quarterback Tim Couch seven times -- all in the second half -- as defensive coordinator Tim Lewis let his defense blitz in order to throw Couch off his game.

For the second straight week, the Browns were beaten by a player named Brown in overtime. In Chicago last Sunday, Bears safety Mike Brown's interception return for a TD beat Cleveland 27-21.

"It was another very winnable game," linebacker Jamir Miller said. "We had it in our hands and let it slip away. That's very frustrating."

Couch finished 18-of-33 for 160 yards, but Cleveland's offense gained just 88 yards after the first quarter and was held to 3 points over the final 57 minutes.

Pittsburgh's Kordell Stewart was 18-of-32 for 188 yards.

After missing the four kicks in a 13-10 loss against Baltimore last Sunday, Brown went to Heinz Field for a special practice session on Wednesday, and the extra work paid off.

His third field goal, a 37-yarder, tied it 9-9 with 10:52 remaining in the third quarter.

However, the Browns responded with a 13-play drive and took back the lead on Phil Dawson's 40-yard field goal with 4:20 left in the quarter.

The Steelers then appeared to be in business when Amos Zereoue took a short screen pass from Stewart, made a nice cutback in front of Pittsburgh's bench and went 62 yards to the Browns' 2. Zereoue, a former West Virginia University star, seemed to run out of gas before he could get to the end zone. He tripped and fell at the 2.

But on first down, Stewart tried to outrun the Browns to the corner of the end zone and was stripped near the pylon by defensive end Tyrone Rogers.

Officials ruled it went out at the 1, but the Browns challenged the call and TV replays showed Stewart fumbled the ball into and out of the end zone for a touchback. Stewart, who was running on the left side of the field, held the ball in his right hand instead of protecting it with his left.

The Browns became the first team to score against the Steelers in the first quarter this season when Orpheus Roye, who played four seasons in Pittsburgh, tackled Bettis one yard deep in the end zone for a safety. Bettis attempted to stretch the ball past his own goal line to no avail.

Cleveland took over at the 49 following the free kick, and Couch made it 9-0 by threading a 12-yard TD pass to tight end O.J. Santiago with 6:43 left in the quarter.

Plaxico Burress cost the Steelers six points when he dropped Stewart's pass in the end zone, and Pittsburgh settled for Brown's 31-yard field goal to pull within 9-3.

On Pittsburgh's next possession, Bettis ripped off a 16-yard run and Zereoue a 20-yarder to give the Steelers first-and-goal at the 6. But with Bettis on the sideline, Pittsburgh lost 3 yards on two running plays and Brown had to kick a 27-yarder.

Zereoue rushed four times for 20 yards and caught three passes for a team-leading 77 yards.

Bettis carried the ball just nine times in the second half, but rattled off eight carries in OT to help set up Brown's winning field goal.

"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."

Notes: Bettis moved into 12th on the career rushing list, moving past Ricky Watters in the first quarter. Bettis has 10,670 yards. O.J. Simpson is 11th with 11,236. ... Santiago's TD was his first since Dec. 27, 1993, when he was with Atlanta. ... Browns S Earl Little sustained a concussion in the second quarter when he was flattened on a clean block by Ward. X-rays on Little's neck were negative. ... Cleveland last played consecutive overtime games in 1986. The Browns won both. ... The crowd of 73,218 was the largest in the three-year history of Cleveland Browns Stadium.