Carson Palmer earned himself a new set of wheels for winning the Pro Bowl's Dan McGuire Award as the Player of the Game, but the Cincinnati quarterback is working toward a bigger prize called the Super Bowl.

Palmer completed 8 of 17 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns, and directed the game-winning 7-play, 63-yard drive that ended with Nate Kaeding's 21-yard field goal as the AFC beat the NFC, 31-28, yesterday at Aloha Stadium.

"This is a huge honor," Palmer said. "I feel very blessed just to be here — let alone for the outcome to be this. My goal is to be in the Super Bowl and to win a Super Bowl. That's where my mind is at. After this week, I'm going to start focusing on that."

Palmer missed last year's Pro Bowl after tearing ligaments in his left knee in a wild-card playoff loss to the eventual champion Pittsburgh Steelers on Jan. 8, 2006. Palmer was hurt after defensive tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen collided with his knee.

Palmer returned this season and earned his second consecutive Pro Bowl selection after throwing for 4,035 yards and 28 touchdowns — both second-best in the AFC — while posting a solid 93.9 passer rating.

"It was a long offseason and I was fortunate to be able to make it back here," Palmer said. "It's one thing to just be able to play with these guys and work with them during the week and then get to play in the game. It's a lot of fun."

Palmer went 2 of 4 for 23 yards on the game-winning drive that started on the AFC 34 with 1:48 remaining. He ran for a first down on fourth-and-1 and set up Kaeding's kick when Cincinnati teammate and wide receiver Chad Johnson drew a 39-yard pass interference penalty from Adrian Wilson that put the ball at the NFC 2.

"The guy hit me early," Johnson said.

AFC coach Bill Belichick said he was happy for Palmer who still wears a big brace on his left knee.

"He obviously wasn't able to play in the game last year," Belichick said. "For him to have the kind of game he had, and to get that recognition, I'm very happy for him. He deserves it."

Palmer connected with Indianapolis' Reggie Wayne for a 72-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The score capped a 3-play, 74-yard drive and tied the score at 7. In the fourth quarter, Palmer lofted a 42-yard touchdown strike to Johnson that gave the AFC a 28-14 lead with 12:47 remaining.

"Great routes," Palmer said. "Both were long developing plays that you gotta have protection up front. In games like this, protection is always a scary thing just because defenses start to key on snap counts. But we did a great job of protecting and both of those guys ended up running great routes to get open."

After the game, the affable Johnson joked that Palmer would give him the red convertible Cadillac.

"He's giving me the keys!" shouted Johnson, who finished with three catches for 70 yards and a touchdown. "Go ask him."

When asked about giving the car away to his top receiver, Palmer responded: "Chad lives in a dream world half the time, but he tried to make a deal with me. If he'd won it, I'd get it. If I'd won it, he would get it. I wasn't going to make that deal with him. I wasn't surprised to hear him say that."

Undaunted, Johnson added, "Now we can work on getting that MVP of the Super Bowl."

Palmer, a 2002 Heisman Trophy winner for Southern California, returned to Aloha Stadium for the first time since beating the host University of Hawai'i, 62-7, in 1999. So far he's 2-0 at the Halawa facility.

"I've been here a couple of times," Palmer said. "I don't know the island's ins and outs, but I love being over here. It's my favorite place to vacation, personally. I love every opportunity I get to come over here."

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.