Super Bowl teams to be set on Sunday

SEATTLE -- The road to the Super Bowl never leads through Carolina. Instead, it leads the Panthers all over the map.\nTwo years ago, the team went to St. Louis and Philadelphia in the playoffs, won both times and made its first NFL championship game appearance. This winter, the stops have been in the Northeast (23-0 over the Giants), the Midwest (29-21 over the Bears) and, now, the Pacific Northwest, where the Seahawks await Sunday in the NFC title game.\nDon't expect the Panthers to be intimidated. They've already shut out one of the league's most prolific offenses and manhandled the stingiest defense.\nCarolina is 8-2 as a visitor this season and is trying to become the first team to win five straight road playoff games.\n"I think when we go on the road, it's just us against the whole city," Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers said. "You go to a city like New York and Chicago, where we only travel with 46 players and the coaches and the media guys through the organization, less than 100 people. It's us against the whole people, basically ... so I think we see the challenge. I think it brings us tighter when we're on the road because we know we're all we have in that city at that time."\nThe Panthers were seeded fifth after going 11-5 during the season, finishing second to Tampa Bay in the NFC South. But while the Buccaneers went out in the first round to Washington, the Panthers are looking very much like the team that barely lost to New England, 32-29, in the 2004 Super Bowl.\nSeahawks coach Mike Holmgren, whose team was 5-3 away from Qwest Field this season, said he is impressed by how well the Panthers travel.\n"I'm envious," he said. "I heard something this morning about Pittsburgh's road record (also 8-2); I admire that. It's very difficult to win on the road, and teams that have figured out how to do that on a consistent basis usually will be very good and be in the playoffs"