I would've never thought in 21 years, a Super Bowl event would be happening in my hometown, let alone, happen in the Bay Area. This is a surreal feeling for me that I'm previewing this Super Bowl, knowing it's going to happen in my hometown. I think this is the only time I'll thank the 49ers for something; building a stadium in my hometown, but I'm still gonna stick to the Silver and Black thank you very much. First we had WrestleMania 31 last year, which I attended and it was a blast. Now, we have Super Bowl 50, it's just pure pandemonium here in Santa Clara for the last two years. Well enough reminiscing about my town, another year where the #1 seed in both conferences will face off against each other in the Super Bowl. The Broncos are trying to win one more for Peyton Manning in his "last rodeo" in professional football while the Panthers are trying to write their name in history after finishing a league best, 15-1 in the regular season. As usual, I will evaluate their roster, their season, and make my prediction as to who do I think will win the big game. Let's get down to business!
Denver Broncos
There is no question that Peyton Manning is grabbing all the attention now that we know that this Super Bowl is his swan song for his NFL career. However, the story of the Broncos this season did not revolve around Manning. Their #1 ranked defense was the sole reason why they wounded up in this Super Bowl. This defense was stacked with plenty of pass rushers from Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Malik Jackson, Derek Wolfe, etc. The secondary, headlined by Chris Harris, Jr., Aqib Talib, and T.J. Ward were stout and physical in coverage, which opened up a lot of sack opportunities for Miller and Ware. Wade Phillips, in his first year as Denver's defensive coordinator, did wonders in transforming the Broncos' front seven into every quarterback's worst nightmare; you have to give him a lot of credit for that. This season, the Denver defense allowed an average of 199.6 passing yards, ranked #1 in pass defense and they were also top 5 in run defense, allowing an average of 83.6 yards on the ground (link). To show you examples of how legit this defense is: they held Aaron Rodgers to under 100 yards passing, they completely blanked the Raiders' offense for the first half of the Week 14 game in Denver, holding them to minus yardage. Of course both regular season games frustrated me as a Raider fan, but in all honesty, you can't help but fear the Broncos' defense because they are layered with depth from the D-line, Linebacker, and Secondary positions and you just never know what kind of pressure Wade Phillips would dial up.
Even though the defense is a stalwart group, they had to resort to the "bend, but don't break" philosophy in most games because the offense was so stagnant for the most part of the regular season. Peyton Manning had trouble throwing the football and adding some zip to his passes, C.J. Anderson frustrated many Fantasy owners with his slow start to get the ball rolling, Demaryius Thomas dropped a lot of balls, and the O-line, well, Khalil Mack's 5 sack performance in Week 14 told the whole story about the up-and-down play of Denver's O-line. Throughout the season, the poor performance of the offense put Denver in a lot of close games, but because the defense made some timely plays and some key stops, the offense got bailed out in a lot of the team's victories. In the games against the Ravens, the Chiefs (in Kansas City), the Vikings, the Raiders (in Oakland), the Bears, and the Bengals, all of these games were won because of the awesome play of the Broncos' defense much to the expense of the offense. The Denver offense was a hot mess that head coach Gary Kubiak resorted to benching Manning in favor of Brock Osweiler. There's no question that Osweiler filled in admirably, especially when he lead the team to a shocking win over the Patriots. But, you can't write Manning's fairy tale story if he's not under center and I think that was Kubiak's mindset when he made the decision to go back to Manning as the starter much to the dismay of some Bronco fans who thought Osweiler was the man going forward. Also the fact that Manning has postseason experience played into account for the decision to start him. In the playoff games against the Steelers and the Patriots, the offense under Manning's command showed some flashes and they did just enough to win both playoff games while the #1 defense continued to play at a high level.
Carolina Panthers
"Keep pounding" was the mantra all season long for the 2015 Carolina Panthers. Nobody thought they would've made the jump from a 7-8-1 record last season to a near perfect 15-1 record this season. And understandably so, Cam Newton was going to miss his go to receiver, Kelvin Benjamin for the season after a solid rookie year and Greg Olsen was projected to be his only good go to target while everyone else was just questionable. Everybody thought Newton was going to have a down year and the Panthers would not see any postseason action at all. Boy, did they prove everyone wrong. Cam Newton may be en route to receive league MVP honors, proving he's a threat in the air and on the ground. 3,000+ yards passing, 35 passing TDs, and 10 rushing TDs to go with those stats (link). It's not just "Supercam" who carried this team, but their opportune defense was another key component to their regular season success. The Panthers defense lead the league in takeaways, cornerback Josh Norman emerged into a premiere shutdown corner in his contract year, and linebacker, Luke Kuechly may give J.J. Watt a run for his money for Defensive Player of the Year. Head Coach, Ron Rivera did an excellent job in making this team play at a high level for all 16 games, but credit also goes to the coordinators. Offensive coordinator, Mike Shula continues to play a key role in Newton's development and defensive coordinator, Sean McDermott had this defense playing hard for 60 long minutes all game when the Panthers' offense decided to shut down after scoring a lot of points.
Now, despite the 15-1 record, a lot of critics are trying to take away their credit because they benefited from an easy schedule. If you look back at their schedule, definitely many teams would die to play that kind of a cupcake schedule. The NFC South? Mediocre. The AFC South? Garbage division this year. The NFC East? Yeah, that's a garbage division as well. But you can't completely blame the Panthers' success all on the schedule. The Panthers just went out there and did their job, to win games and ensure longevity to their season. Because the Panthers' offense played conservative after scoring a lot of points, most of their games were close and the final scoreboard doesn't always indicate how a game went. The game against the New York Giants was a particular example. They had them beat by 30+ points, but the Giants came back and Carolina still eventually won by a field goal. But enough of making fun of the Panthers' easy schedule, they had a pair of legitimate wins against the Seahawks in Seattle and the Packers, who by the way had Cam Newton and the Panthers' number in the previous seasons. To win against the Seahawks in Seattle is a huge accomplishment. When Newton lead the Panthers to a game-winning drive against the Seahawks with 12th man roaring at them, it proved to be a stepping stone for where they are now. In the playoffs, the Panthers have proven that their 15-1 record was no fluke, taking it to the 2x NFC champion, Seahawks and the #2 seeded, Arizona Cardinals and handling them with ease. If a team can manhandle two good teams in a powerhouse division such as the NFC West, especially in the playoffs, it speaks volumes and what we saw in both playoff games is a Panthers team with a lot of young players either in their prime or in their contract year that is hungry to hoist the Lombardi trophy and in the process, shut all their naysayers up.
Keys for the Broncos
Even though the marquee matchup of this Super Bowl is Peyton Manning vs. Cam Newton, the Denver defense will play a key role in containing Cam Newton. The Broncos defense faced some mobile quarterbacks in Alex Smith and Aaron Rodgers, guys who can move out of the pocket and extend plays with their legs. But, Newton is a different animal when it comes to scrambling quarterbacks. Wade Phillips has to draw up different blitzes and give out all kinds of different defensive alignments to confuse Newton. There has to be a defender in front to spy on the read option because once Cam finds a hole in the defense he'll take off running for a first down or a TD. If Newton gets his way on the ground, it'll open up opportunities for Jonathan Stewart and the Panthers' ground game to get going. The next key for the defense is containing tight end, Greg Olsen. Neutralizing Cam Newton's favorite target will do a lot of wonders for the Broncos secondary and open up some opportunities for Ware, Miller, and the rest of the D-line to wreak havoc in the pocket. Offensively, Peyton cannot be depended on to beat the Panthers defense because we all know what happened two years ago when Seattle crushed Denver 43-8. To ensure that doesn't happen again, the Broncos' running game with C.J. Anderson has to be established to give Peyton some opportunities for some play action and misdirection plays in Gary Kubiak's offensive system. The play of the O-line will be crucial for the offensive game plan to work out as Carolina's front seven poses a daunting matchup in front of them.
Keys for the Panthers
If anything, the Panthers are playing red hot football right now in the playoffs. If there's any indication of how good they are, they got off to fast starts against the Seahawks and the Cardinals and Cam Newton and the opportunistic defense of the Panthers has a lot to do with it. They'll have to repeat the same formula against this Broncos team. Now, this may be the Panthers' greatest test of the season so far because have never faced a defense as vaunted as the defense of the Broncos under Wade Phillips, so the key for them is to get the offense to a fast start. The Panthers' O-line has been so good in keeping Newton upright all season, so they're gonna need to hold up against the likes of Ware and Miller. Perhaps the biggest X-factor for the Panthers besides Newton and Olsen to look out for is Ted Ginn, Jr. Think of the role Percy Harvin played for the Seahawks against the Broncos two years ago. Harvin's presence allowed the Seahawks to open up a lot of opportunities on their offense. What Harvin was to the Seahawks is what Ginn's going to be for the Panthers. If he plays well, the Panthers offense will open things up. The Panthers have to make Peyton Manning beat them and not only do they have to start fast, they have to contain their running game. The Panthers' run defense has been good all season long, ranking 4th against the run (link). If they bottle up C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman in the run game, Manning is going to be a sitting duck and that'll create opportunities for Kuechly, Norman, and Kurt Coleman to make some plays defensively to get Manning rattled or have him commit some costly turnovers.
Prediction
This is always the tough part. The Broncos are going to do everything they can to have Peyton Manning ride out his Hall of Fame career into the sunset as a Super Bowl champion and their #1 defense is going to be carrying this team. The Panthers, despite their youth, a lot of these players are either in their prime or they are playing hard for a contract extension to stay with the teams. I see this as a low scoring affair, but I think the Panthers defense is just going to be too good for Peyton Manning. It's going to be like Super Bowl XLVIII with the Seahawks all over again minus the blowout. I think Newton is going to do just enough against the Broncos' #1 defense, but the Panthers' defense is going to get all the headlines by shutting down the Broncos' running game and making Manning commit key turnovers that'll put Carolina's offense in good positions to score against the Broncos' defense.
Projected Final Score: DEN 13 CAR 23
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