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PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- It's a rivalry again. Rookie Phil Dawson booted a 40-yard field goal as time expired, giving the new Cleveland Browns a stunning 16-15 upset of their longtime and suddenly current rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. "I was just hoping we would get a chance," Dawson said. "The wind was really blowing, it was swirling in front of me. It all happened so fast, I didn't know how long the field goal was or how much time was on the clock." Pittsburgh, which slaughtered Cleveland in the season opener to spoil its return to the NFL after a three-year absence, held what appeared to be a comfortable 15-7 lead after rookie Kris Brown kicked his third field goal with 9:10 to play. The Browns (2-8) had scored on their opening possession but did not seriously threaten again until receiving a gift when Kordell Stewart threw his second interception of the game with 6:26 to play. Stewart, who had a dreadful game, inexplicably fired a third-down pass right into the midsection of linebacker John Thierry, setting up the Browns at the Pittsburgh 15. "This game is really special," Thierry said. "Everyone's kept on fighting. It's a special gang, definitely something to work on for the future." "After last week, when we didn't take advantage of opportunities, I thought we showed a great deal this week," Cleveland coach Chris Palmer said. "John Thierry gets the turnover. We didn't buckle over. We kept coming at them." Three plays later, Tim Couch fired his second touchdown pass of the game to fullback Marc Edwards, breaking the Browns' rookie record with his ninth scoring strike of the season and pulling Cleveland within 15-13 with 5:12 remaining. "We've grown a lot since the first game of the year," Couch said. "Pittsburgh's really a tough place to play. We hung in there until the opportunities were there." Pittsburgh linebacker Earl Holmes and safety Travis Davis combined to stuff running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar just shy of the goal line on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt, but the Browns would not go away. After taking over on downs deep in their own territory with less than two minutes to play, the Browns used a long completion from Couch to rookie Darrin Chiaverini and a 15-yard personal foul on linebacker Mike Vrabel to set up Dawson for the winning kick. "I'm very pleased with how Tim handled the situation," Palmer said. "You don't know what a quarterback will do until its in front of him. This is something that shows he's comfortable." "I threw it under (the coverage) and Chiaverini made a great move," Couch added. "We knew we didn't have timeouts. We tried to move the ball as quickly as possible." The Steelers (5-4) pounded Cleveland, 43-0, on opening night at the new Browns Stadium on September 12. The Browns, who last visited Pittsburgh on November 13, 1995, snapped a six-game losing streak to their rivals and increased their lead in the all-time series to 53-42. "It was a very disappointing game," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "We really didn't sustain any type of momentum throughout the day. The lack of converting a couple of third downs, really not that many big plays at all." Couch completed 18-of-28 passes for 199 yards and surpassed Bernie Kosar's previous rookie TD pass record of eight established in 1985. The 6-4, 227-pound signal caller put his team ahead just five plays into the contest when he found fellow rookie Kevin Johnson with a 35-yard TD pass just 2:35 into play. Johnson finished with five receptions for 93 yards, picking up the slack for Leslie Sheperd, who collected two receptions for 31 yards on the opening drive before leaving the game with a strained calf. Stewart was clearly outplayed by his young adversary, going 15-of-32 for 137 yards with a costly pick in the first half to go with his fourth-quarter blunder. "It only takes one point to win a game," Stewart said. "I didn't play well, we didn't play well. It's tough to digest. The guy just made a good play on (the second interception)." After Courtney Hawkins brought a punt back 14 yards to the Cleveland 37, Stewart took the next snap and fired a ball directly at safety Marquez Pope standing all alone at the 22. Brown did manage a 41-yard field goal in the first quarter, pulling Pittsburgh within 7-3, which is how it remained until the half. Brown went 3-for-3, improving to 16-of-17 on the season after drilling an NFL-record 13 straight between the uprights to begin his career. Pittsburgh came out with renewed vigor in the second half, taking the kickoff and marching 51 yards in 10 plays before Brown booted a 32-yard to make it 7-6 with 9:57 left in the third quarter. The Steelers appeared to finally take the game by the throat when linebacker Jason Gildon forced Couch into a fumble at his own 8. Defensive end Orpheus Roye pounced on the loose ball and three plays later, Richard Huntley scampered in from the five for a 12-7 Pittsburgh lead with 8:18 remaining in the period. Jerome Bettis had 26 carries for 99 yards, picking up 22 during a 10-play, 51-yard drive that culminated in Brown's 51-yard field goal, making it 15-7 with 10:10 to play. The Steelers turned up the defense, registering five of their six sacks in the second half and allowing only four first downs after halftime before Stewart's ill-advised pass. Facing a 3rd-and-4 from his own 30 Stewart dropped back and appeared to be setting up a screen in the left flat. But Thierry rushed the passer and somehow got his hands around a bullet fired directly into his chest from short range. "I was in the path of the ball, the tackles were trying to cut me," Thierry said. "When you see a tackle trying to cut you, you know it's a screen pass. I read it and the ball just came my way." "It was a quick screen we were throwing to the X receiver," Cowher added. "Then we went to go cut the guy and he jumped at the same time." Thierry returned the ball to the Pittsburgh 15 before Couch found Edwards to close the gap to 15-13. Abdul-Jabar, who had 56 yards on 18 carries, tried to go up the middle on the ensuing conversion attempt, but Holmes and Davis were up to the task, halting the running back's momentum inches from the goal line. Taking over at their own 21 with 5:12 to play, Bettis and the Steelers appeared poised to run the clock out. Bettis took four carries to rush for consecutive first downs and ran off right tackle for six more to set up 2nd-and-4 at his own 43 with 2:20 to play. But the burly was stopped for no gain on his next carry and Huntley lost a yard on third down, forcing Pittsburgh to punt. Cleveland started at its own 20, but Roye committed an encroachment penalty on the first play from scrimmage before Couch found Chiaverini over the middle for 23 yards to the 48. Vrabel, who was rushing Couch on the play, drilled him high a split-second after the ball was released, moving the ball to the Pittsburgh 37 with 1:43 left. "I can't judge how they're going to call it," Vrabel said. "That's part of the game, it's what they see. It's just me out there, the plays in front of me and I just make every effort to make a play." Couch proceeded to hit running back Terry Kirby for seven yards, handed off twice to Abdul-Jabbar for eight more before Dawson came out and split the uprights. The Browns have won twice in three weeks after defeating New Orleans on October 31.
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