Denver will meet Carolina in Super Bowl 50 after veteran quarterback Peyton Manning led the Broncos to a narrow win against New England on Sunday while the Panthers dominated Arizona.
Manning got the better of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in their longstanding rivalry, but it was the Broncos defence which took most credit for the 20-18 victory to clinch the AFC championship.
Carolina quarterback Cam Newton threw for two touchdowns and ran for two others in a 49-15 romp over the Cardinals for the NFC championship.
The Super Bowl on February 7 at Levi's Stadium will be the first for Newton and the second for the Panthers, who lost to New England 12 years ago.
Denver's victory was not settled until Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby picked off Brady's pass on a 2-point attempt that would have tied the game with 12 seconds left.
The Broncos recovered New England's ensuing onside kick and the celebration began.
Manning is now 6-11 in his vaunted series against Brady, but 3-1 with the AFC title on the line.
"He's going to do what he has to do to win," Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. "He's one of the greatest competitors ever in this league."
Manning, 39, will surpass now Broncos executive John Elway as the oldest quarterback to take his team to the Super Bowl.
Throughout the season, Denver has depended on a defence that gave up the fewest yards and came up with game-saving plays time and again, it was the case once again as they harassed Brady all day.
After giving up possession twice on downs inside the Denver 20-yard line late in the fourth quarter, Brady lobbed a 40-yard pass to a double-covered Rob Gronkowski to keep a desperation drive going on fourth-and-10.
Then, on fourth-and-goal from the 4 with 12 seconds left, Brady found Gronkowski again, and the game came down to the 2-point conversion attempt.
The Broncos defence stood up again, and the franchise is now headed to its eighth Super Bowl, Manning's fourth as he seeks to become the first quarterback to lead two different franchises to titles.
If Manning was good, Newton was better. The fox-tail wearing Panther threw for two touchdowns and ran for two others, including a leaping effort in the third quarter.
"Playing the sheriff," Newton said of Manning. "We're going to live in the moment right now. We're going to be excited."
"We came out here and fought our tails off and we did what a lot of people said we couldn't do. It's not over yet. We'll be ready to go in two weeks."
Carolina's defence intercepted Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer twice, and special teams also had a takeaway as the Panthers grabbed a 24-7 halftime lead.
The previous week they almost blew a 31-point lead against Seattle, but there was no relaxing this time.
Newton finished with 335 yards passing and 47 rushing as Carolina won its 13th straight home game, including three in the playoffs.
One of his biggest helpers was Ted Ginn Jr., who was dumped by the Cardinals after last season.
Ginn had a 32-yard punt return to set up his weaving 22-yard TD run, and chased down All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson to prevent a second-quarter touchdown. He also had 52 yards on two receptions.
