The San Francisco 49ers' long road trip to a Super Bowl return will now take them to Seattle after beating the Panthers 23-10 in Carolina.

The fifth-seeded 49ers will head to the noisiest stadium in the world to play in their third straight NFC Championship game after already logging thousands of playoff miles while earning victories in Carolina and Green Bay. San Francisco split two games with their division rivals this season, winning at Candlestick Park but losing in Seattle.

San Francisco gained what turned out to be a relatively straightforward victory courtesy of two Colin Kaepernick touchdowns - one passing, one running – and closing down Carolina's offense. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was intercepted twice and sacked four times, while Carolina were also stopped twice on the one-yard line.

Kaepernick completed 15 of 28 passes for 196 yards, avenging his worst statistical performance of the season two months ago against the Panthers.

Anquan Boldin took eight catches for 136 yards and Frank Gore ran for 84 yards on 17 carries for the 49ers. 

Carolina's vaunted pass rush, which led the league with 60 sacks, got to Kaepernick only once and the defense was flagged for three costly penalties leading to 13 points.

Kaepernick extended San Francisco's lead to 20-10 early in the third quarter with a four-yard touchdown run off a read option, then imitated Newton's Superman-style celebration by pretending to rip open his shirt.

The 49ers earlier benefited from a missed penalty call when Kaepernick passed to Vernon Davis at end of the first half. 

The 49ers took a 13-10 lead into halftime after Davis hauled in a one-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone with five seconds left in the first half. Davis was initially ruled out of the end zone prompting 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh to come racing on to the field to dispute the call and drawing a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. After reviewing the play, officials ruled Davis dragged his left foot and overturned the call on the field. Television replays however showed the 49ers had 12 men in the huddle before the play, which should have resulted in a penalty.

The touchdown was the first time in 18 possessions the 49ers had scored a TD against the Panthers this season.

Two other costly 15-yard personal fouls against Carolina's defense led to a pair of early San Francisco field goals.

Carolina won 10-9 in November in San Francisco, yet once again had trouble scoring. The Panthers briefly held the lead when Newton connected with Steve Smith for a touchdown, his 10th TD in nine postseason games.

The win set up the third game of the season between Seattle and San Francisco. The Seahawks won at home 29-3 in September, then the 49ers won at home 19-17 in December.