Steelers and Panthers march on

NFL WILD CARD MATCH-UPS Saturday, 7 January Tampa Bay 10-17 Washington New England 28-3 Jacksonville Sunday, 8 January NY Giants 0-23 Carolina Cincinnati 17-31 Pittsburgh Already through to the Divisional play-offs (14-15 Jan): Indianapolis, Denver, Chicago & Seattle

Ben Roethlisberger's three touchdown passes lifted the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 31-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Sunday's NFL play-offs.

Despite losing quarterback Carson Palmer (knee) early on, Cincinnati battled to a 17-7 second-quarter lead.

But the Steelers piled on 24 unanswered points to move into a divisional play-off match with the Indianapolis Colts next weekend.

And earlier, the Carolina Panthers thrashed the New York Giants 23-0.

In Cincinnati, the Bengals suffered a major blow to their chances of progressing further in the play-offs when Palmer had to be carted off the field in the first quarter.

Palmer took a blow to the knee as he dropped back for his first pass - a 66-yard completion to Chris Henry that set up a 23-yard Shayne Graham field goal.

Veteran quarterback Jon Kitna helped the Bengals build a lead in the second quarter but struggled for most of the second half and was intercepted twice.

Palmer's injury was a major blow to the Bengals on Sunday

Roethlisberger, however, was nearly flawless as he completed 14-of-19 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns to help Pittsburgh claim victory.

Steve Smith scored two touchdowns as the Carolina Panthers brushed aside the New York Giants.

The impressive Panthers will now face the Chicago Bears in the National Conference semi-finals next weekend.

The Giants not only saw their Super Bowl hopes dashed, they also became the first team since 1980 to fail to score at home in a play-off game.

"Our offensive line came out on a mission today," said Carolina's Nick Goings. "There were a lot of creases for us and it was up to us to press the hole and hit it.

"That was a goal all week long, to be able to come in and run the ball. I think we did that and we are building momentum for the play-offs."

On Saturday, the New England Patriots began their quest for a third successive Super Bowl with a 28-3 first-round rout of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes as the Patriots posted their NFL-record 10th straight post-season win.

New England, champions of the AFC East (at 10-6), will be on the road, at Indianapolis or Denver, next week.

In Saturday's other game, the Washington Redskins held the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at bay for a 17-10 win.

Washington grabbed 14 first-quarter points on a six-yard run by Clinton Portis and Sean Taylor scoring on a 51-yard fumble return.

Taylor was later ejected for spitting at a Buccaneers player but the Redskins defence made the early lead stand up.

It was the sixth straight win for the Redskins (11-6), who travel to Seattle next weekend.