One interception, four tackles and no knee brace.

Not too shabby a return for Troy Polamalu, one week before arguably the greatest quarterback and one of the finest running backs in NFL history visit Heinz Field: Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings.

Polamalu, back after missing 4 1/2 games since the Tennessee season opener because of an MCL sprain in his left knee, pronounced himself "fine" after the Steelers' 27-14 triumph yesterday -- even though he limped off the field following a first-quarter interception off Cleveland wildcat-formation quarterback Joshua Cribbs.

"It wasn't the MCL," explained Polamalu, but it was a pain in the ligaments. "When you have a knee injury and you hit it against the ground, it hurts."

A knee brace wouldn't have helped there, barely 14 minutes into the game. Polamalu shed the device after pregame warm-ups, he cared for it so little.

"I came out in warm-ups in the brace, and it was just too tight," he said. "I couldn't bend my leg at all. I couldn't really run. ... It wasn't going to happen. After I got the knee brace off, it felt pretty good."

He admitted to being "a little cautious" in the early going. But then he stepped in front of receiver Chansi Stuckey on a short out pass to Cribb's right and stymied Cleveland at the Steelers' 12.

"The interception, in my opinion, was the biggest play of the game," Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel said. "They were in our red zone. He's the greatest player in the league. To have him back is huge."

"I thought it was a good start," coach Mike Tomlin said. "I think how he feels [Monday] will be critical as we move forward, but good to see him back out there. Good to see him with the ball in his hands."

An operation to repair standout defensive end Aaron Smith's torn rotator cuff and end his season was delayed Friday because Smith was ill, Keisel said.

In his place, Travis Kirschke had three tackles while Nick Eason (one tackle) and rookie Ziggy Hood rotated for a handful of plays between them.

"I don't think there was a noticeable difference [without Smith]," linebacker James Harrison said. "Kirschke started there and did a good job."

Long after the game ended, a team remained on the field last night. It was time for some new sod on Heinz Field.

A grounds crew tore out portions alongside the right hashmark, starting at the 1 and advancing down field to the other end zone, and replaced it with new grass.

The Steelers went to an all-grass field this year just for that reason, because it could be patched whenever needed. The former DDGrassmaster couldn't be pulled up, and club officials the past two years waited until after the four WPIAL championship games in late November, then covered the entire field with new sod.

Thirty seconds before halftime, it was time for a measurement. After a Ben Roethlisberger plunge on fourth-and-1at the Browns' 14, out came the chains. Cleveland defenders promptly began celebrating and running off the field. The Steelers motioned first down -- and referee Walt Anderson concurred.

"The ball has to penetrate the plane of the [marker] stake," Anderson told a pool reporter following the game.

"So, if the nose of the ball touches the stake, then it's a first down. It's kind of like a football touching the plane of the goal-line."

Told that CBS replays seemed to show the ball's nose short of the yardstick, Anderson said that could have been because of a bad camera angle.

Just before halftime, Hines Ward ran under an arcing Roethlisberger pass in the left corner of the end zone for what appeared to be a 13-yard touchdown. Upon further review, officials ruled -- according to referee Anderson -- that Ward dropped the ball while rolling out of bounds.

"The ruling ... I thought was that you have to have control while you're in the end zone," Ward said. "What the ref said was that you have to continue, no matter how many times you roll. On the second roll, the ball hit my thigh and moved a little bit. I had complete control of it when I caught it in the end zone."

• Steelers -- Receiver Limas Sweed, back on the sideline after failing to corral a pass in Detroit last week in a return to the roster following his Cincinnati end-zone drop; fullback Carey Davis, for whom tight end David Johnson subbed; offensive linemen Craig Urbik and Tony Hills; cornerback Keenan Lewis; linebacker Andre Frazier (quadriceps); defensive end Sunny Harris; and Dennis Dixon as No. 3 QB.

• Browns -- Kicker Phil Dawson (calf); tight end Steve Heiden (knee); linebacker Kamerion Wimbley (flu); offensive lineman Billy Yates; running back Chris Jennings; defensive backs Gerard Lawson and Coye Francies; and Brett Ratliff as No. 3 QB.

Cleveland entered the game with the NFL's worst rushing defense. Then it lost Wimbley, its leading sacker with four of the team's nine sacks, to such a bad case of the flu that he was sent home.

By halftime, the Browns lost their next best defensive player, linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, to a shoulder injury.

The Steelers rushed for 140 yards, some 30 below Cleveland's average, but Roethlisberger threw for 417 yards -- the second-highest of his career.

Joshua Cribbs' continued production against the Steelers? "That's Kent State," said Harrison, a former teammate there. "We have some good players."

The Steelers know all about Cribbs, whose 98-yard kickoff return in the second quarter -- pulling the Browns to within 14-7 of the Steelers -- was his third touchdown return against them. He has eight returns for scores in his five-year career.

"I got the blocking and got an alley," Cribbs said.

Cribbs was the Browns' biggest offensive threat. He rushed for 45 yards on six carries from the wildcat formation, returned a punt 26 yards and totaled 132 yards on three kickoff returns for 203 yards of total offense on 12 touches, which included two incomplete passes (one a Polamalu interception).

"I've got to make a better decision on that and try not to do so much," said Cribbs, who reputedly became the first NFL player since 1950 to return a kick for a touchdown and throw an interception in a game. "I've got to do my job, do what is asked of me and not get out of my box."

"He was the only reason they were in the game today, I think," Keisel said.

In his five seasons in the NFL, the Browns' Joshua Cribbs has eight career kickoff returns for touchdowns. Three of them are against the Steelers:

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