DENVER — They've been barnstorming their way through the NFL this postseason, by plane, train and, of course, by Bus.

And now, the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans have one more stop on their postseason road trip — the Super Bowl, thanks to a dominating 34-17 victory over the Denver Broncos in the AFC title game Sunday.

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

Led by 275 yards and two passing touchdowns from Ben Roethlisberger and a touchdown by Jerome Bettis, The Bus, the sixth-seeded Steelers became the first team since the 1985 Patriots to win three postseason road games en route to the Super Bowl.

Next up: Seattle, a 34-14 winner over Carolina in the NFC title game. The teams will meet in two weeks at Ford Field. The Steelers were an early 31/2-point favorite.

For Bettis, the final stop on the road trip will really be a trip back to his hometown. He stuck around for a 13th season, hoping to play his first Super Bowl in Detroit.

"It makes it worthwhile," Bettis said. "It makes everything we, as a team, have had to go through and personally ... it makes it all worth it."

He had plenty of help.

He got it from Roethlisberger, Big Ben, the second-year quarterback who looked every bit the veteran in this one. He completed 21 of 29 passes and kept the Steelers going on six of seven crucial third-down situations in the first half.

And from Bill Cowher, the jut-jawed coach who worked the sideline in his usual manner, jabbing his finger at Bettis, then hugging him, smiling and scowling, too. This was tough love at its best — and good enough to move the Steelers back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995.

And all those loyal Pittsburgh fans. An estimated 8,000 came to Denver, waving their Terrible Towels and turning Invesco Field into their latest home away from home.

"It feels great today, I'll tell you that," owner Dan Rooney said. "The coach already told me we're going to the Super Bowl to win it, not just to be there."

The Broncos (14-4), meanwhile, will go home after an emotional couple of weeks. When they started the playoffs, it seemed their surprisingly nice season would end the way the last two have — with a trip to Indy, where the Colts would be a big favorite.

Pittsburgh (14-5), of course, knocked the Colts out and suddenly, Denver found itself the Super Bowl favorite, with another home game and the supposed inside track to its first championship since John Elway retired after the 1998 season.

That story changed shortly after kickoff.

Pushed around and outschemed, the Broncos fell behind 10-0 early, which essentially sapped the home-field advantage.

Back in the day, a 10-0 deficit with Elway on the sideline meant the fun was just beginning. But this was Jake Plummer's game to salvage. As most Broncos fans know, that rarely turns out well. He finished with two interceptions and two lost fumbles, four turnovers for a guy who committed only eight all regular season.

"This is the farthest I've ever gone. We have to think of it as a step in the right direction," Plummer said. "It's a great team I've played with this season. From top to bottom, everyone gave it their all."

But only one team could move on, and it will be the Steelers. Their next game will be for their fifth championship — the elusive "One For The Thumb" — that the franchise has waited decades for in the wake of the 1970s heyday of Bradshaw, Swann, Stallworth and Harris.

Against Denver, the Steelers came out passing, not running, much the same way they did when they upset Indianapolis last week. Roethlisberger called pass plays on seven of Pittsburgh's first 11 snaps and threw completions on five of those.

The first drive resulted in a field goal. On Denver's next possession, Porter blitzed to force a fumble by Plummer. Five plays later, Roethlisberger hit Cedrick Wilson for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead.

After Denver got a field goal, the Steelers essentially salted this game with a 14-play, 80-yard drive that ate up nearly 71/2 minutes and had the Broncos' defense totally off balance and gasping for air. Bettis capped it by bulling in from the 3 for a 17-3 lead. Cowher smiled widely for that one, remembering Bettis' near disaster on the goal line last week in Indy.

Trailing by two touchdowns late in the first half, Jake the Snake lobbed a terrible pass into the flat that was easily intercepted by Ike Taylor.

Moments later, Bettis ran it in from 12 yards for an apparent touchdown on third down.

A penalty nullified that, but it only set up Roethlisberger for his best throw of the day — a 17-yard touchdown that barely cleared the fingertips of Al Wilson and Nick Ferguson, before finding Hines Ward tucked neatly in the back of the end zone.

That made it 24-3.

"He had a small window to get it there and he got it in that window," Ward said.

The second half was predictable. Denver made a few attempts to get back in it and pulled within 10 for a moment. But eventually the Steelers put it away. After Plummer's last turnover, Roethlisberger ran it in from 4 yards for a touchdown and a 34-17 lead.

All that was left was for Cowher to give some hugs, for the Steelers to pick up the AFC Championship trophy, and for security to ask the thousands of Pittsburgh fans to finally please leave the stadium nearly an hour after the game was over.

Oh, and to start getting ready for the next big trip.

"This is a great group of guys, how we got here, we're a different team," Cowher said. "We're a focused team, no matter what's happened, we've stayed together. We've got a resilient group."