Shaun Alexander of the Seattle Seahawks tries to get past safety Mike Minter of the Carolina Panthers
© AFP/Getty Images Harry How

SEATTLE, United States (AFP) - National Football League rushing leader Shaun Alexander ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns, Matt Hasselbeck threw for two scores and the Seahawks beat Carolina 34-14 to reach their first Super Bowl since being formed in 1976.

"We're not done yet," Hasselbeck said. "We've got another game we've got to go win."

Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger threw for two touchdowns and ran for another while Jerome Bettis rumbled for another score as the Steelers routed Denver 34-17, their Cinderella run bringing their first Super Bowl trip since 1996.

"We've got a young quarterback who didn't play young," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said.

"Big Ben" improved to 26-4 as a starter and Pittsburgh became the first bottom seed to win three games away from home to reach the Super Bowl, having earlier dispatched Cincinnati and top seed Indianapolis.

"Everyone said we couldn't do it being the sixth seed," Steelers linebacker Joey Porter said. "We just took the scenic route."

The American Conference champion Steelers will equal the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers with a record five Super Bowl titles by beating top-seeded National Conference champion Seattle on February 5 at Detroit, Michigan.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger
© AFP/Getty Images Andy Lyons

"We're going to the Super Bowl to win it, not to just be there," Cowher said.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren guided Green Bay to a Super Bowl victory in 1997 and a Super Bowl loss the following year. He could become the first coach to win Super Bowls with two different clubs.

"We've got people excited," Holmgren said. "This makes me sure I can coach a little bit. I feel so good for the organization and the fans."

Alexander, who scored an NFL one-season record 28 touchdowns in the regular season, suffered a concussion a week ago but his rushing performance left the Panthers' defense shaking their heads.

"I was going all out and whatever happens happens," Alexander said. "It's football. No one is ever 100 percent. I was good enough to play."

The Seahawks, who had not won a playoff game in 21 years until a week ago, will face a team that won four Super Bowl crowns in six years from 1975 through 1980. Pittsburgh's only Super Bowl since was a 27-27 loss to Dallas in 1996.

Power-rusher Bettis, nicknamed "The Bus", will rumble into the Motor City to play his last game, hoping to finally capture an American football crown in a hometown farewell that might be a fairytale finish.

Head coach Bill Cowher (L) of the Pittsburgh Steelers talks with safety Troy Polamalu
© AFP/Getty Images Elsa

"The thought of Detroit was always in the back of my mind," Bettis said. "I always thought we could get there and now it has come true. Detroit watch out, here we come."

Barring an injury, 23-year-old Roethlisberger will be the second-youngest starting quarterback in Super Bowl history. Only Miami's Dan Marino has started the title game at a younger age than "Big Ben".

"We worked a plan and it worked," Roethlisberger said. "The ball feels good in my hand. I made a promise to 'The Bus'. I promised him I would get him back to Detroit. We're going and I'm so happy."

The Steelers, who only clinched a playoff spot on the final weekend of the season, reached last season's conference final but lost 41-27 to New England. Denver ended the Patriots' bid for a fourth title in five years last weekend.

"We've been on the doorstep a couple times," Bettis said. "Once we got to the playoffs, we knew it was a realistic possibility."

Roethlisberger wears jersey number seven to honor his boyhood idol, former Denver star John Elway, who watched "Big Ben" pick apart his former club. The Broncos' four turnovers were only one less than they made at home all season.

Wide receiver Drew Carter of the Carolina Panthers hauls in a pass over cornerback Marcus Trufant (C) and safety Michael Boulware
© AFP/Getty Images Stephen Dunn

Pittsburgh was 1-4 in prior American Conference finals under Cowher, all at home, but the Steelers proved themselves road warriors by improving to 9-2 this season away from home.

"Playing the way they have on the road the past three weeks is really an accomplishment," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. They play big on the road."

The Panthers were denied a second Super Bowl trip in three years, having lost their only trip to New England in 2004.

"We obviously got beat by a better team," Panthers coach John Fox said. "I'm not sure what the problem was. Their defense played tremendous."

NFL receptions leader Steve Smith returned a punt 59 yards for a Carolina touchdown but Seattle's defense kept him to just five catches for 33 yards, robbing the Panthers of their biggest weapon.

"Everything that team did was superb," Smith said. They outhustled us. They flat out beat us."

js06

© 2006 AFP. All rights of reproduction and distribution reserved. All information displayed on this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.