CLEVELAND -- Instead of hearing the boos, the Steelers decided it was time to dish them out again. Like this: BOO!

Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Jeff Reed celebrates with Steelers tight end Mark Bruener after kicking a 46-yard field goal in the fourth quarter yesterday in Cleveland. Reed kicked two field goals and Bruener caught his first pass of the year for a touchdown in the 13-6 win over the Browns at Cleveland. Click photo for larger image. More Steelers coverage Bettis carries himself into elite company Play of the Game Missed opportunities haunt Cleveland Steelers Report: 11/23/03 Steelers Report Card Game Eleven Photo Journal: Game Eleven, Steelers at Cleveland Browns

"We have to make people scared of us again," linebacker Joey Porter said. "We ain't really been hitting nobody. We were the Big Nasty D, but we weren't playing nasty, know what I mean?"

The self-promoting T-shirts proclaiming themselves as much vanished long ago and so, it seemed, did that style of defense. But it returned for at least one game yesterday as the Steelers used big hits and big turnovers to turn in a nasty 13-6 victory against the Cleveland Browns.

The unsightly triumph on a warm, sunny November day kept the Steelers (4-7) two games behind Baltimore and Cincinnati (6-5) while dragging the Browns into a last-place tie with them. They're hoping their second victory in three games can help launch them into a winning streak that will put them back in the playoff hunt.

The Steelers would at least like to keep playing defense the way they did yesterday, something they say was long overdue.

"We made more plays today than we made all year," defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen said.

The Browns outgained them 303 yards to 168, but this wasn't a game about yards. The Steelers forced five turnovers (and committed none themselves), staged one huge goal-line stand energized by a thundering Kendrell Bell hit, and held the Browns without a touchdown even though they reached inside the 20 four times.

Each of the Steelers' three scores came after a fumble on a weird day in which Mark Bruener scored his first touchdown on his only reception of the season and Jerome Bettis rushed for more yards (93) than Tommy Maddox had passing (73).

"The defense played terrific, I think they won the game," said receiver Hines Ward, who caught only one pass. "We really could not get anything going on offense."

Safety Brent Alexander prevented one Cleveland score when he intercepted Kelly Holcomb in the end zone, and cornerback Chad Scott clinched the victory with an interception at the Steelers' 39 with 1:41 left.

"I just cannot say enough about our defense," coach Bill Cowher said.

"We played mad and angry," Porter said. "It was lots of fun doing that. We're going to hit some people and beat some people up and take them with us."

Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend dives for the loose ball after linebacker James Farrior deflected a pass intended for Browns receiver Dennis Northcutt. The Steelers didn't get a turnover on this play, but they did five other times as Cleveland yielded three fumbles and two intercepted passes. Click photo for larger image.

Enter the Browns, who beat the Steelers by 20 in Heinz Field in October. A victory would have kept them within a game of first, put them at .500 and given them a sweep of the Steelers for the first time in 15 years.

They took a quick 3-0 lead on Phil Dawson's 27-yard field goal and looked poised for a blowout when Dennis Northcutt returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown. It was called back because of a hold. Dawson later kicked a 31-yard field goal in the second quarter for a 6-0 Browns lead.

Then, things began to turn.

James Jackson, who led the Browns with 94 yards rushing, fumbled without being hit and linebacker James Farrior recovered at the Cleveland 18. They worked it down to the 1, and on third down coordinator Mike Mularkey pulled another trick out of his bag.

Maddox, who completed only 9 of 24 passes and none in the first and third quarters, faked a handoff to Bettis, rolled right and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Mark Bruener. It was Bruener's first catch in more than a year -- Nov. 17, 2002 -- and his first touchdown catch since he caught one here last season, also for 1 yard.

That gave the Steelers a 7-6 lead, and it became 10-6 on the first of Jeff Reed's two field goals, from 23 yards, after Bell stripped Jamel White of the ball and Alexander recovered it at the Cleveland 22.

The Browns' miscues and the Steelers' nasty play on defense really converged in the third quarter.

Cleveland's first drive of the half carried 76 yards to the Steelers' 1 on second down. The Browns were stoned on three consecutive plays. Bell's thundering hit of Jackson on second down set the tone.

"That's how he got his name, contact, making hits like that," Porter said. "That's just a mental boost for your own team."

Bell, Farrior and Gildon tripped up Jackson for no gain on third down. On fourth down, the Browns tried a reverse, Quincy Morgan giving off to Northcutt. Scott snared Northcutt by the ankles. He hit the ground and reached the ball over the goal line but a replay challenge confirmed what the officials called on the field, that his elbow had hit before the ball crossed.

Steelers ball.

"I had him man to man, and I was just able to make the tackle before he got into the end zone," Scott said.

The Browns were far from done, though. They zipped right back down the field on their next possession and this time had a first down at the 6, trailing by four. Farrior dumped Jackson for a 1-yard loss, Holcomb overthrew a receiver in the end zone and then Farrior roared in on Holcomb on third down, looking very much "mad and angry." Holcomb hurried his pass toward Andre Davis and Alexander snapped it up 2 yards deep and ran it out to the 32.

On their third possession of the second half, the Browns lost it again when Jackson fumbled for the third time and Kendrick Clancy recovered. The Steelers drove down for another Reed field goal, from 46 yards with 8:36 left, and a seven-point lead.

"We had a couple turnovers today and I think they were all just effort plays, everybody running to the ball," Farrior said, "everyone trying to make them fumble. It seems like you go a long time without having turnovers, and then it comes in twos and threes, in bunches."

There would be one more. After Rodney Bailey dumped Holcomb for the team's third sack of the game to end one drive, the Browns had a final shot. They started on their 20 with 3:05 to go, trailing by seven and they dinked and dunked and moved it to a second down at the Steelers' 49.

"We wanted that opportunity," Alexander said. "We wanted to get back on the field, we wanted to prove we could stop a team in that situation."

On the next play, Scott stepped in front of a pass intended for Andre King and it was over.

The victory did not put the Steelers any closer to first place, and it reduced the amount of time they have to catch the leaders. But that's not their concern.

"The main thing is we have to keep playing and see how this thing pans out," Alexander said, "and when it's like one or two weeks to go in the season, see what's going on."