CLEVELAND — Joey Porter let the Cleveland Browns have the first word. He wasn't giving them the last one.

"I'm not backing down," Pittsburgh's tough and (trash) talkative linebacker said. "Never."

He wasn't alone as the Steelers, who spent last week listening to the Browns threaten revenge for a 41-0 beating on Christmas Eve last season, rallied for 21 points in the fourth quarter in 24-20 win on Sunday.

One week after Cleveland wide receiver Braylon Edwards said, "We're coming after the Steelers," Porter was still questioning the Browns' intentions.

"If you talk and lose, you're still losers," he said. "They talk like a different team, but in reality they are not. I won't argue with them and don't know what's in their heads. They had all the breaks, all the bounces. But when it was nail-biting time and you've got to make plays, who made them?"

Ben Roethlisberger, for starters.

Pittsburgh's quarterback shoveled a 4-yard touchdown pass to Willie Parker with 32 seconds left as the Steelers rallied and stunned the Browns, who were minutes away from kicking the defending Super Bowl champions into the AFC North basement.

Roethlisberger, intercepted three times in the first half, threw for 272 yards — 224 in the final period — as the Steelers (4-6) avoided a defeat that would have made it almost impossible to get into the playoffs.

"People put us down and out, but we're not going to quit," said Roethlisberger, who brought Pittsburgh back a week ago to beat New Orleans and shook off a sore shoulder in the fourth period. "We stayed together and came back to win."

Roethlisberger made his impromptu flick to Parker after avoiding Browns rookie Kamerion Wimbley, who pressured the QB throughout the second half and drilled him several times on the Steelers' game-winning drive.

"I scrambled and saw Willie," said Roethlisberger, 18-for-29 in the final 15 minutes. "I told him later I thought twice about giving it to him. He didn't like that, but I was joking. I knew he'd get in."

Parker, whose 1-yard TD run with 4:14 left brought the Steelers within 20-17, gave all the credit to his quarterback.

"It was completely improvised by Ben," Parker said. "It was a great play. He's our leader. We came back when he did it all."

The victory was the Steelers' first in five road games this season and Pittsburgh's first away from Heinz Field since humiliating the Browns 41-0 on Christmas Eve last season.

The Browns (3-7) spent months stewing over that beating and were determined to rekindle the NFL's fiercest rivalry. They wanted Pittsburgh's respect, and they got it — but not a win to go with it.

"I could care less about the Steelers," said Edwards, who backed up his pregame bark with career highs in catches (seven) and yards (137). "I don't care about us getting their respect or whatever."

Cleveland's defense harassed Roethlisberger for 50 minutes but couldn't stop him when it mattered most, and the Browns dropped their sixth straight game to their bitter rivals, who have won 12 of the last 13 between the teams.

After Roethlisberger's hookup with Parker, the Browns drove to Pittsburgh's 22. With 3 seconds left, Charlie Frye threw a jump ball to the back of the end zone that Edwards nearly grabbed in a crowd.

But when the ball fell to the ground, several of the Steelers dropped to their knees in relief. Edwards, Kellen Winslow and other Cleveland players consoled each other after another tough loss.

"This is very disappointing, especially after that 41-0 loss last year," linebacker Andra Davis said. "We've been looking forward to this one since that clock went to zeroes."

The Browns, who led 10-0 at halftime, were up 13-10 after Roethlisberger connected for a 20-yard TD pass to rookie Santonio Holmes with 9:33 left.

But Cleveland's Joshua Cribbs returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, and it looked as if the Browns, who haven't won two straight games since 2003, might hang on.

Roethlisberger, though, refused to let the Steelers down.

"This game started out bad for us," said Roethlisberger, whose first interception was returned 57 yards for a TD by cornerback Daven Holly. "Things were not going well. But there was never a feeling of, 'We're in trouble.' We felt that if we didn't stop ourselves we would win."

Notes: Browns RB Reuben Droughns sat out with a sprained right foot. His replacement, Jason Wright, had 74 yards on 18 carries. ... The Steelers picked up 19 first down in the fourth quarter and had the ball for 12:02 to 2:58 for the Browns.