CINCINNATI (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t know if the playoff-inexperienced Carson Palmer could beat them in a postseason game, and now they’ll never know. What they did learn is Ben Roethlisberger is nothing like the befuddled Big Ben of last January.

Roethlisberger looked confident and in control Sunday in leading the Steelers to a 31-17 wild-card victory in Cincinnati, their first road playoff win in four tries in coach Bill Cowher’s 14 seasons.

With Palmer relegated to the sideline after tearing a knee ligament on his second play of the game, Roethlisberger had his chance to shine.

Was it the skittish Roethlisberger of a year ago, the rattled rookie who threw five interceptions in two playoff games and played nothing like the only quarterback in NFL history to win his first 13 starts?

Nope.

He was nowhere to be found Sunday, and instead played like an experienced quarterback is supposed to play when the games become more important and the next loss is the last of the season.

This time, the Steelers’ running game didn’t do much except for Jerome Bettis’ run-over-everyone-in Fountain Square 25-yard burst. Willie Parker, who ran for 131 yards the last time, was held to 38 yards.

That meant the Steelers needed Roethlisberger, who was so flustered and mistake-prone in his first postseason, to not only bring them back from deficits of 10-0 and 17-7 but to win it for them.

Win it, he did, playing much more like the quarterback who is 22-3 in his career than that who was 1-1 in the playoffs last season, and was lucky to win the one he did win. In his first playoff game last season, he threw a potential season-ending interception in the last 2 minutes of a tied playoff game against the Jets, only to have New York’s Doug Brien miss two possible game-winning field goal tries in the last 2:02 of the fourth quarter before Pittsburgh won in overtime.

Against the Bengals, Roethlisberger was near perfect in his decision-making and his execution, going 14-of-19 for 208 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and one faked-out-everyone gadget play.

He had his choice of two wide-open receivers after taking Antwaan Randle El’s across-the-field lateral, and found Cedrick Wilson on a 43-yard scoring pass that made it 28-17 late in the third quarter and effectively ended it.

Think the Steelers would have entrusted such a gimmicky, potentially trouble-prone play to Roethlisberger last season? Think not.

Roethlisberger played exactly how he must play next Sunday in Indianapolis if the sixth-seeded Steelers are to beat the top-seeded Colts – and exactly like he didn’t play in a 26-7 loss there Nov. 28 when he was intercepted twice while returning from a three-week injury layoff.

It was how the Bengals would have wanted Palmer to play if he hadn’t torn up his left knee on a 66-yard pass to Chris Henry to end Palmer’s season and, effectively, the Bengals’ as well.

AP-ES-01-08-06 2001EST