Alright guys, welcome in to the full recap of Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos! In a battle of #1 seeds in the Big Game's 50th installment, the Denver defense, lead by Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, leave their mark in history as they completely shut down the league MVP Cam Newton and the Panthers, 10-24 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
There's no magnificent ending in sports other than to see a legendary player end his storied career by going out on top a champion. This is what circled around this game. The legacy that Peyton Manning will leave, there is no question that he's one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game of football, but you can't write a better ending than what he wrote tonight and that's walking out of Levi's Stadium, in the 50th edition of the Super Bowl, a champion. But let's step away from Peyton's storied career for a minute. Time and time again, the Denver Broncos defense showed why they were the best defense in the league. Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, the rest of the Broncos defense, they attacked Cam Newton and the Panthers O-line like crazy. They didn't give him any room to run as they kept stacking up the box, their defensive backs didn't give the Panthers receivers any room to run, and they made timely turnovers to seal the game. Like I said, the Panthers had some opportunities, but they shot themselves in the foot countless times and it costed them in the long run and the Denver defense was able to eat them up.
Carolina Panthers
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Defense. I predicted that this would be a low scoring game because of how good both defenses are. But let's look at the Panthers' side first. They were on the field for too long this game because of the slow start of the offense and the amount of mistakes the offense was making. But, they hung tough out there. After being off balance for Denver's first offensive drive, they kept them in check all game long, holding them to field goals by Brandon McManus. Luke Kuechly, 10 tackles, 1 sack, no question he's a beast. But Kony Ealy was their top performer out there with 4 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble. Ealy's play tonight kept the Panthers defense afloat and prolonged window of opportunity for the Panthers offense to get the team back into this game.
Corey "Philly" Brown, 4 receptions, 80 yards. When Brown went out to the locker room somewhere in the third quarter, that was it for the Panthers because he was their play maker all game long when the Panthers' offense couldn't get anything going. Cam Newton had pressure in his face all game long, being unable to make some throws he usually make. But Philly Brown stepped up to be that big play maker and he did a tremendous job against this stingy Denver secondary before he went down to injury.
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Missed opportunities. It wasn't just the Broncos' defense who beat the Panthers, it was also the Panthers who beat the Panthers this game. 4 turnovers in the game, a missed field goal by Graham Gano. The running game, when Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert had some good runs, they fumbled. When T.J. Ward fumbled his interception, the Panthers couldn't come up to recover the fumble and score it for a TD. When Cam Newton fumbled the snap in the 4th quarter, he didn't bother to recover the ball to give the team one last run. This is a reflection of a young team and their mistakes showed in the biggest game of their life.
Penalties. Like I said before, the Panthers also beat the Panthers and they shot themselves in the foot this game. Too many pre-snap penalties that costed them yardage when they were putting together solid drives in Broncos territory and too many illegal block/holding penalties that costed them some decent field position to start.
Denver Broncos
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Von Miller, 6 tackles, 2.5 sacks. Von Miller, hands down deserved Super Bowl MVP honors. The Panthers' O-line just didn't have the answers on how to contain him or block him! Von was just too fast for the Panthers to handle. The strip sack he had on Newton for a TD during the first quarter pretty much set the tone that Newton was not going to run circles on this defense. When he brings pressure from the blind side, it results in a sack and he got to Newton too many times. Some of the time, he was able to sack him, hence his 2.5 sacks, but a lot of the time when Miller collapsed the pocket it allowed opportunities for Ware and Derek Wolfe to get after Newton. There was nowhere for Newton to escape and Von Miller definitely made his presence felt this game as a pass rusher and as a disruptive playmaker.
Dustin Colquitt. Hey, punters are people too! Rarely is the importance of special teams emphasized, but the defense wouldn't have feasted on the Panthers' offense if it weren't for Dustin Colquitt. Colquitt pinned the Panthers deep for the most part of this game. This answers the reason why the Panthers' offense was getting awful field position to start! Even when the Broncos were deep into their own territory, Colquitt's punts didn't allow Ted Ginn, Jr. to have a favorable punt return nor did he give them any field position to start in Denver territory.
C.J. Anderson, 21 carries, 82 yards, 1 TD. Aside from the defense, Denver's running game was the the other key for the Broncos to have any chance of winning and C.J. Anderson provided that spark. The O-line deserves credit too for opening up some timely holes, but Anderson getting the running game going with some explosive runs kept the Panthers' defense off balance in some stints of the game. Not to mention, his 2 yard TD run sealed the deal for the Broncos in securing a Super Bowl victory over the heavily favored Panthers.
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Demaryius Thomas, 1 reception, 8 yards. Panthers' cornerback, Josh Norman did his job in containing the Broncos' #1 receiver. I don't know if it's the big contract that he got in the past offseason, but Thomas was non-existent for the most part of the season, let alone in the playoffs. And two years after setting receiving records in Super Bowl XLVIII, he is held to just 1 catch for 8 yards in Super Bowl 50. How's he going to live up to his contract now that Peyton Manning may call it quits? We don't know, but he hasn't been the Broncos' go-to-guy as of late.
Conclusion
I'll remove some impartiality a little and say as a Raider fan, this game makes me want to puke after witnessing the Denver Broncos win yet another Super Bowl title and this time in my hometown of Santa Clara. You never want to see a heated divisional rival win it all at your expense. And in the process, they tied us for the most championships in the AFC West. Okay, I've gotten that off my chest. But it's going to be interesting to see if they're still going to be a powerhouse team as they transition into football life without Peyton Manning. As long as they keep their core players in Von Miller, Derek Wolfe, Malik Jackson, Danny Trevathan, etc. and Wade Phillips is still calling plays, their defense is going to carry the team on their back because the players are in the prime of their careers with the exception of DeMarcus Ware of course. Hey, in the incoming offseason, the Raiders might not have a shot at Von Miller to pair him with Mack, but they have a legit chance in snagging Malik Jackson or Danny Trevathan or both away to weaken them. As for the Panthers, they're young and this is part of the growing process. There's no question they'll be contenders for quite some time. The only question is, when players like Josh Norman for example played lights out in his contract year, will he play at the same level once he gets a contract extension? Both teams have a lot of questions to answer in the offseason because a lot of their integral pieces will be free agents. As for Peyton Manning, a heck of an ending to a storied career. The game of football is going to be weird to watch since guys like Charles Woodson and Peyton Manning, the last of their kind in the 1998 draft, called it quits after this season. But congrats to Peyton for a storied NFL career and we'll see him again with a gold jacket on in Canton, Ohio. Thank you guys for following my coverage of Super Bowl 50. Until next season. I'll see you guys later.
Congrats Denver Broncos Super Bowl 50 champions!
(I'm gonna puke)
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