Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Denver's Dominant Defense too much for Newton's Panthers in Super Bowl 50

Super Bowl 50 - Two years ago at Super Bowl 48, Peyton Manning was thrashed by a defense that led to a 43-8 dismantling of the Denver Broncos. This time around, it was the defense that carried him to his second Super Bowl victory on Sunday and the team to its third. In a game that featured little excitement on offense for either team despite Carolina owning the highest-scoring offense in the league, it was defense that took center stage in this one. While both teams entered the golden game with defenses among the league's best, nobody expected the struggles on offense to play out quite like they did come kickoff. With "Keep Pounding" being Carolina's motto all season long, the only pounding they'd see on their side was from reigning NBA MVP and avid Panthers fan Steph Curry who helped introduce Carolina onto the field by banging a black and teal drum draped with the motto. The rest of the pounding would be at Carolina's expense and supplied by Denver's dominant front seven as there would be no dabbing or selfies taking place by members of the Panthers on this day. 

With Carolina winning the coin toss and electing to differ, Denver had no problem receiving the ball first and getting things started as Manning threw a strike to his tight-end Owen Daniels for an 18-yard gain on the game's opening-play. He would follow it up just three plays later with a 22-yard connection to receiver Andre Caldwell. A pair of nice runs from running back C.J. Anderson would help Denver march into field goal range as kicker Brandon McManus capped what would be his team's best drive of the day with an early field goal to put his team on top. It would mark the first time that Carolina trailed at any time during the postseason all year. And from that point on, Denver never looked back. After exchanging punts, Carolina took over on offense deep in their own territory, spelling doom for Cam Newton and company as Von Miller broke through and wisely went for the ball instead of a sack, stripping it away from the quarterback as teammate Malik Jackson scooped up the ball in the end zone for the defensive touchdown. Despite playing in a record-tying eighth Super Bowl, it was the first in which they've ever scored a touchdown on defense. The big play on defense and first sack of the game would be the first of many by the Broncos D.
And just like that, Carolina found themselves in a hole, down 10-0 on the biggest stage imaginable. Though the 10-0 deficit wasn't completely foreign to the Panthers who trailed by 10+ points on three occasions this season and came back to win all three games, being asked to make such a comeback against a defense like Denver's would be a different story. During the two weeks in between the Conference Championships and Super Bowl Sunday, all we heard from Carolina's side was the debate of whether or not this Panthers team would be touted as one of the all-time great teams if they could come out on top. But the team that entered the big game a combined 17-1 on the season, resembled an entirely different group come game time. And no one player looked more uncomfortable during the game than quarterback Cam Newton who was named the league MVP the night before. Hoping to become the first league MVP to win the Super Bowl in the same year since Kurt Warner of the 1999 St. Louis Rams, Newton was held in check and looked like a shadow of the QB that entered the game having dominated along his journey to get there.

Not accustomed to playing from behind, Newton did manage to temporarily kick those jitters to the side as the Panthers offense finally got things going to start the second quarter. After having good field position wiped out by an illegal block penalty on the kick, Carolina stringed together their only decent drive of the game, with running back Jonathan Stewart soaring into the end zone from a yard out to put the Panthers on the board. After the touchdown that made it a 10-7 game, both teams exchanged punts. During Carolina's punt, however, the Panthers special-teams made the terrible mistake of assuming Broncos return man Jordan Norwood had called for a fair-catch. The brain cramp would cost them as Norwood returned the punt for a record-setting 61-yards, the longest punt return in Super Bowl history. The return would set the Broncos up for a second field goal by McManus, increasing Denver's lead to 13-7. Things would go from bad to worse for the Panthers on offense as fullback Mike Tolbert fumbled at midfield for the first time all year, recovered by the Denver defense. Luckily for Panthers head coach Ron Rivera and company, it wouldn't cost them.
With the Broncos offense threatening one final time before the half and looking to make it a double-digit ballgame, the Panthers defense came thru with an interception in Carolina territory as defensive end Kony Ealy stepped in front of a pass intended for Emanuel Sanders. While it would be his only mistake in the game, the interception by Manning snapped a postseason career-best 164 consecutive pass attempts without an interception and gave him at least one in all four of his Super Bowl appearances, tying a mark held by his boss and Broncos Vice President -- John Elway. The Panthers were unable to cash the turnover in for points, but it did keep the game within striking distance as Denver took their 13-7 lead with them into the half. With how many self-inflicted miscues the Panthers committed in the first half, they were fortunate enough to head into the locker room staring down a deficit of only 6-points. Having entered the game on the opposite side of things by outscoring opponents 55-7 during the first half this postseason, Carolina found themselves in uncharted waters.

And just when you thought the Panthers had flipped the switch to open the second half, they continued to shoot themselves in the foot once again. After connecting with receiver Ted Ginn Jr. on the second play of the half for the longest reception of the game -- a 45-yarder, the Panthers seemed bound to put a dent into Denver's lead, if not pull ahead. Instead, kicker Graham Gano missed a 44-yard field goal attempt, doinking it off the right upright. As for his counterpart, McManus continued to bang 'em thru as Manning marched the offense into field goal range once more, adding to their lead. With Carolina in need of a response, Cam Newton unloaded a deep pass that was snatched in the air by a leaping Corey Brown for a 42-yard pickup. Sadly, the drive would hit a brick wall with much of the same for Carolina as Newton was picked off just four plays later on a pass that was too hot to handle intended for Ginn. Safety T.J. Ward came up with the interception before fumbling the ball on the return and being saved by a Broncos teammate who made the recovery.
Carolina would show some late signs of life in the fourth as it was their defensive end Ealy who came up with yet another big play on defense, stripping Manning of the ball and forcing the turnover. They would capitalize the fumble recovery with a field goal that Gano converted on to inch closer and make it a 16-10 affair. Taking over with less than five minutes remaining and down by six, Denver dealt the final blow on a strip by Von Miller, recovered by Ward. The play drew quite the scrum for the ball and quite the discussion as Newton appeared to have given up on the play by electing not to dive for the loose ball. Taking over from the 4-yard line, Denver would provide the last nail in the coffin as C.J. Anderson ran it in from 2-yards out to make it a two-score game. And just for extra measure, Denver converted on the two-point conversion to seal it, pulling off the 24-10 victory.

With the win, Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak became the first to ever win a Super Bowl as a player and coach for the same team. He's also only the fourth coach in NFL history to hoist a Lombardi Trophy in his first year at the helm. As for Manning who surpassed Brett Favre for the most wins all-time with win No. 200, Peyton becomes the 12th QB to win two Super Bowl titles and the first to do it with different teams. As for his future, Manning has refused to tip his hand as to whether or not he'll be retiring and says he plans to take some time to weigh his options now that the season is over. A move Elway approves of and encouraged Manning he took as much as he needs to think it over. Though winning his second ring should make his decision to step away from the game a bit easier, Denver's defense is so good that it just might entice him to come back for one last rodeo in hopes of winning back-to-back titles and retiring the same way Elway did, even if Manning is half the quarterback he once was. One player who won't garner nearly as much credit and appreciation that he deserves during Denver's title run is backup QB Brock Osweiler who would be getting the short end of the stick if Manning does return in 2016.
As much as we would like to remember this game as Manning's last hurrah (potentially), it was all about Denver's defense which tied a Super Bowl record with seven sacks and paved the way to victory. Not since Super Bowl 48 have we seen as dominant a performance like the one we saw on Sunday. But after that 43-8 shellacking at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks, it's safe to say that Denver not only learned from their lesson, but tried duplicating the same formula that they were on the receiving end of last time around. In the win, Manning threw for just 141 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception as Denver's 194 total yards were the fewest ever for a Super Bowl-winning team. On the losing side of things, Newton threw for 265 yards while also going touchdown-less and throwing an interception as the Panthers were held one-dimensional by the dominant Denver D.


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