Carson Palmer was knocked out of the game, Peyton Manning was knocked off his game, Jake Plummer was knocked for losing the game.

The Steelers rode their hard-knock defense and an efficient offense to the Super Bowl in historic fashion.

No sixth-seeded team had ever gotten this far. Only one other team — the 1985 New England Patriots — ever won three consecutive road games to reach the Super Bowl.

That New England team took a 46-10 beating from the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX.

The only team to lose a Super Bowl by a more lopsided score is the Denver Broncos, who suffered a 55-10 loss to San Francisco in Super Bowl XXIV.

Here is a look at the Steelers' playoff path to Super Bowl XL:

Ben Roethlisberger completed 14 of 19 passes for 208 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions while his counterpart, Palmer, left the game with a knee injury after his first pass.That pass was a 66-yard completion to Chris Henry that set up a field goal, but Steelers defensive lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen rolled up Palmer's leg on the play.Veteran Jon Kitna replaced Palmer and guided Cincinnati to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Kitna's 7-yard scoring pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh midway through the second period gave the Bengals a 17-7 advantage.But Hines Ward caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger before halftime and Jerome Bettis scored on a 5-yard run in the third quarter to give Pittsburgh the lead.The key play of the game — and perhaps the postseason — was a gadget play that involved Antwaan Randle El taking the snap from center, rolling right, throwing a backward pass to Roethlisberger, who in turn threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Cedrick Wilson.The play gave the Steelers a 28-17 lead with 3:48 left in the third quarter. Jeff Reed added a 21-yard field goal in the fourth period.

The Steelers shocked the top-seeded Colts despite one of the most bizarre endings in NFL postseason history.Pittsburgh sacked Manning five times and built a 21-3 lead through three quarters. Roethlisberger threw touchdown passes to Randle El and Heath Miller and Bettis scored on a 1-yard run.Manning found Dallas Clark for a 50-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter to pull Indianapolis within 21-10, but the Steelers seemingly sealed the win on a Troy Polamalu interception with just over five minutes to play.As Polamalu got to his feet, his knee came up and jarred the ball loose. Officials reviewed the play and ruled the pass incomplete.The Colts maintained possession and Edgerrin James scored with 4:24 left. Reggie Wayne caught a conversion pass and it was 21-18.With 1:20 remaining, Manning was sacked at his own 2-yard line on fourth down and the Steelers began celebrating on the sidelines.The Colts had three timeouts left, so Pittsburgh tried to score a touchdown on the next play. Colts defender Gary Brackett got a helmet on the football, driving it out of Bettis' grasp.Defensive back Nick Harper scooped the ball up and headed downfield. Only a desperation one-handed tackle by Roethlisberger prevented the go-ahead touchdown for Indy.Manning guided his team downfield, but Mike Vanderjagt was wide right on a 46-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds as the Steelers held on.

Plummer fumbled the ball away twice and threw two interceptions, including a critical one at the end of the first half that helped the Steelers build a 24-3 lead by intermission.Moments after Denver cornerback Champ Bailey bobbled away a possible interception return for a touchdown — Hines Ward grabbing the deflection for a first down — Reed got the Steelers on the board first with a 47-yard field goal.Roethlisberger followed that with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Wilson and Bettis scored on a 3-yard run.Ike Taylor intercepted Plummer with less than two minutes remaining in the half, setting up a 17-yard scoring pass to Ward with seven seconds left.The Broncos pulled within 27-17 in the fourth quarter, but Plummer was sacked on fourth down deep in his own territory with less than five minutes to play.Roethlisberger scored on a 4-yard run with 2:59 remaining and the Steelers wrapped up their improbable road tour to the AFC championship.