Broncos are super once again, provide kryptonite to Panthers’ Superman

By
Phillip Brents
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WEBBroncos.jpg

The Denver Broncos won their third Super Bowl championship by defeating the Carolina Panthers, 24-10, on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. It was a defensive display of excellence for the AFC champion Broncos, who were led on offense by a 39-yard quarterback who was sacked five times and threw one interception.

The Denver Broncos won their third Super Bowl championship by defeating the Carolina Panthers, 24-10, on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. It was a defensive display of excellence for the AFC champion Broncos, who were led on offense by a 39-yard quarterback who was sacked five times and threw one interception.

But Peyton Manning had the last laugh on his critics by hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the second time in his illustrious career. The win over the NFC champion Panthers gave Manning 200 career wins – regular season and post-season combined. He now stands alone in that department, as he does in holding several other all-time marks for NFL excellence.

But it was clearly the Broncos defense that proved super in this year’s Super Bowl. Denver sacked recently named NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton, the Carolina quarterback with 50 touchdowns to his credit this season (38 passing, 12 rushing), six times and intercepted him once. Newton threw for 265 yards in the game but completed just 44 percent to finish with a 55.4 quarterback rating.

The Broncos defense supplied the kryptonite to fell the Panthers’ Superman.

Manning, who many feel may retire after his latest Super Bowl win, fared slightly better with a 56.6 quarterback rating. Manning completed 13 of 23 passing attempts for 141 yards.

The Broncos (15-4) made just one of 14 third-down conversions in the game and finished with 194 net offensive yards. But, riding the league’s No. 1 defense, it proved to be just enough.

Both Denver touchdowns were set up by superb defensive plays. Von Miller strip-sacked Newton and teammate Malik Jackson recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown to put the AFC champs up 10-0.

It was Miller’s second forced fumble on Newton that set up the game’s decisive score late in the fourth quarter – a two-yard run by Denver running back C.J. Anderson with 3:08 left in the game.

The Broncos finished the contest with seven sacks overall for 68 yards in losses.

Denver also forced three fumbles, including two by Newton and one by running back Mike Tolbert. T.J. Ward. Jackson and Danny Trevathan each recovered fumbles for the Broncos. Ward also had an interception that helped stop a potential Carolina scoring drive.

Miller – the Super Bowl MVP — had five unassisted tackles, 2.5 sacks, one pass deflection and two quarterback hits.

Newton rushed six times for 45 yards – most on the Panthers – but the Broncos managed to limit Newton’s damage with his legs. Jonathan Stewart, Carolina’s main rusher, gained just 29 yards on 12 carries.

Anderson led all rushers in the game with 90 yards on 23 carries.

The Super Bowl win for Manning clearly made up for an embarrassing performance in the Super Bowl two years earlier when the Broncos were humiliated by a score of 43-8 by the Seattle Seahawks.

Manning scored an atrocious quarterback rating of 47.9 in that game, finishing with one touchdown pass, two interceptions and one sack as Seattle broke out to a 36-0 lead in a match-up of the league’s top offense (Broncos) and the top defense (Seahawks).

The Super Bowl appearance was the fourth for Manning, a five-time NFL MVP, in his 18-year career. His first Super Bowl win came in 2007 with the Indianapolis Colts (29-17 over the Chicago Bears). Manning recorded one runner-up finish in the Super Bowl with the Colts and another one with Denver.

He is the only quarterback in NFL history to win Super Bowl titles with two different teams.

Manning was the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl and perhaps the luckiest considering the season he had. He finished the 2015-16 season with nine touchdowns, 17 interceptions, 2,249 passing yards and a 67.9 quarterback rating.

Manning’s career numbers include 71,940 passing yards, 539 touchdowns, 251 interceptions and a 96.5 QB rating.

Many expected Newton, 26, and Panthers, who entered the Super Bowl with a 17-1 record, to maul the aging Manning and the Broncos, who had squeaked through the playoffs with two wins by seven points or less (23-16 over Pittsburgh in the divisional round and 20-18 over defending Super Bowl champion New England in the conference finals).

By contrast, Carolina had defeated its two previous playoff foes by scores of 31-24 (in the divisional round against the Seahawks after taking a 31-0 lead) and 49-15 (in the conference finals against the Arizona Cardinals). Newton passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two touchdowns in the NFC championship game.

The Panthers offense looked downright scary and Newton did complete the two biggest pass plays in Sunday’s game – 42 yards to Corey Brown and 45 yards to Ted Ginn Jr.

But the Denver defense otherwise threw a net over Newton, holding the Panthers to a second quarter touchdown on a one-yard leap over top by Stewart and a fourth quarter 39-yard field goal by Graham Gano.

The score remained close until the Broncos scored their second touchdown in the final minutes of the game. Denver led 13-7 at halftime but not before the Panthers had narrowed the score to 10-7 on Stewart’s TD.

The Broncos upped their lead to 16-7 by tacking on a third quarter 33-yard field goal by Brandon McManus. But the Panthers remained within striking distance on Gano’s field goal with 120:21 remaining in the fourth quarter to trail 16-10.

But Newton could not rally his team for the game-winning touchdown. Instead, his opportunity for glory ended in disaster with Miller’s second forced fumble. Newton failed to dive for the loose ball and it was batted backward where Denver’s Ward recovered the ball at the Carolina four-yard line.

The Broncos were deliberate with their play calling, opting to run as much time off the clock as possible. But a third-down holding penalty on the Panthers moved the ball to the two-yard line when it appeared the Broncos might have to settle for a field goal.

Anderson bulled his way into the end zone and Manning followed with a two-point conversion pass to Bennie Fowler to stun the NFC champs.

McManus finished the game with three field goals. He kicked a 34-yarder to cap the Broncos’ opening drive in the game to mark the first time the Panthers had trailed in the post-season.

A 61-yard punt return by Jordan Norwood helped set up a 33-yard field goal by McManus in the second quarter.

Newton was obviously distressed by the loss as he cut short a post-game press conference after answering reporters’ questions in monosyllables, generally avoiding eye contact and noticeably sulking. It clearly tarnished his image.

Kony Ealy was the defensive star for the Panthers with one fumble recovery and a one-handed interception of Manning.

The game, witnessed by an in-stadium crowd of 71,088 and a worldwide television audience, could have been closer. Gano missed a 44-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter that bounced off the right upright.

But defense clearly ruled the game. Britton Colquitt punted eight times for Denver with a 45.9-yard average while Scott Nortman punted seven times for Carolina with a 45.0-yard average.  

It was the Broncos’ eighth appearance in the Super Bowl in franchise history to tie an NFL record.

The original Super Bowl was known as the NFL-AFL championship game. The Broncos became the sixth former American Football League team to win the Super Bowl in its 50-year history, joining the New York Jets (1969), Chiefs (1970), Miami Dolphins (1973-74), Oakland/Los Angles Raiders (1977, 1981, 1984), Broncos (1988, 1989, 2016) and New England Patriots (2002, 2004, 2005, 2015).

Four other original AFL teams – Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers and Tennessee Titans (formerly Houston Oilers) – have recorded runner-up finishes in the Super Bowl.

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