PITTSBURGH – This is why you have to draft the quarterback.

By virtue of their 6-10 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers earned the 11th overall pick in the draft last April, and the speculation on how they would spend that choice was at a fever pitch starting the morning after they lost their season finale in Baltimore.

Some fans looked back at the 2003 Steelers and coveted a right tackle; others doing the same thing wanted a cornerback. But all along the Steelers looked upon their lofty position in the first round as a chance to add a dynamic player at an important position.

They picked Ben Roethlisberger and accomplished their goal as a result.

Making his third NFL start against the Browns at Heinz Field, Roethlisberger gored the Browns defense with big plays created by his improvisational skills, and the Steelers went on to defeat Cleveland, 34-23, to hold onto first place in the AFC North, one-game ahead of the 3-2 Baltimore Ravens.

"Obviously, this is a great win for our team," said Coach Bill Cowher. "It’s a divisional game at home. I thought we started fast. Ben (Roethlisberger) made some plays in the first half out of the pocket. I thought that we did a good job with our red zone defense particularly in that first half, holding them to field goals on the couple of occasions that they were down there. That was big."

At 6-foot-5, 240 pounds, Roethlisberger also is big, and he used his size to shake off Ebenezer Ekuban and complete a 48-yard pass to Plaxico Burress. That Roethlisberger was making a play like that one series after throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 speaks for the poise this rookie has shown from the day of his first practice at training camp back in early August.

"Every week is getting better," Roethlisberger said. "It's all just starting to come together."

Added Cowher, "He’s a very confident young man. I think that he has been that way since day one. A lot of this stuff has happened really fast for him. I think he is continuing to grow as a player, and he is continuing to feel more comfortable in this system.

"Certainly, we had some up-and-down practices through the course of the week and yet on Sundays, I like his demeanor. He is a very confident young man, and you really don’t see things bother him that much. The other players respect it because he is confident but yet he is humble."

The Steelers are 4-1 for only the third time in Cowher’s 13 seasons as their coach. Duce Staley complemented Roethlisberger by scoring on a 25-yard run while gaining 117 yards, his third consecutive 100-yard game. Staley never had rushed for 100 yards in three straight games, and it was the first time a Steelers back turned the trick since Jerome Bettis did it on Oct. 7-14-21 in 2001.

The Browns (2-3) missed a chance to move over .500 and dropped two games behind Pittsburgh in the AFC North.

Some NFL scouts felt Roethlisberger needed the most polishing of the three quarterbacks chosen early in the April draft. Yet while the Giants' more-publicized Eli Manning and the Chargers' Philip Rivers are sitting, Roethlisberger is only the sixth rookie quarterback to win his first three starts since the NFL merger in 1970. Steelers rookie Mike Kruczek was 6-0 in 1976.

"He made a couple of plays that, yeah, you definitely look at and say, 'Boy, this guy can play,' " said Jeff Hartings. "The way he throws on the run, being able to stop and sling it 40-50 yards, that's just natural ability. I think Pittsburgh's going to be happy to have him."

On the play in which Roethlisberger eluded Ekuban and found Burress, he was flattened by a helmet-to-helmet hit by Orpheus Roye's hit, but one play later, he Roethlisberger powered up the middle for a 6-yard touchdown run.

"He made some throws," Roye said. "He played like a veteran. You couldn't tell he was a rookie."

The ability Roethlisberger has to escape pressure and still look to make plays down the field with his powerful right arm led to his 37-yard scoring pass to Burress that made it 24-10 midway through the third quarter. Roethlisberger rolled out of the pocket, momentarily freezing the defense and allowing Burress to slip behind cornerback Anthony Henry for the touchdown.

Burress, who has been praised for his work ethic and approach throughout this season, had his most productive game to date with six catches for 136 yards.

"A lot of those plays aren't called, but the linemen are doing a great job of blocking and the wide receivers are getting open," Roethlisberger said. "For me it's easy, all I've got to do is run and throw the football."

While Roethlisberger was hurting the Browns with his unique combination of pose and athleticism, Browns quarterback Jeff Garcia still looked uncomfortable out of the 49ers' West Coast offense despite dodging a persistent pass rush to throw for 210 yards.

The Browns, who picked tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. with their No. 1 pick last April, were one of the 10 teams to bypass Roethlisberger.

Cowher is now 7-1 in head-to-head matchups with Browns coach Butch Davis, and Cleveland is 6-29 in Pittsburgh since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.

After Chris Crocker's 20-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter, Cleveland's scoring consisted only of Phil Dawson's three field goals until Andre Davis' 7-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

While the Steelers were scoring touchdowns, the Browns were settling for field goals, and that turned out to be a big factor in the outcome of the game. That, and the play of the Steelers' rookie quarterback.

"If you settle for field goals instead of touchdowns, you never create any heat on them," Garcia said.