The most anticipated event of the year has come and gone and the Denver Broncos are Super Bowl 50 Champions.
The Broncos’ offense was balanced, both in its run game and passing. The team has multiple running backs, C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman, that can burst through holes and pick up big yardage. In the AFC Championship the Broncos struggled to run the football with a total of 99 combined rushing yards among their entire team, including a 14-yard run from Peyton Manning. Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas give Peyton Manning both a consistent short route receiver and a deep pass threat all game long. Thomas’s story is interesting for a few reasons. First, he has talked about getting nervous before games and has to ease his way into the football game. He has played in a Super Bowl already, so he should have been able to calm his nerves faster than others, but this game was a little different. His mother was in the stadium.
Thomas’s mother was in prison on a 20 years sentence for the conspiracy of helping her mother with a cocaine ring in their home in Georgia. She has been pardoned by President Obama, but going to a football game involves noise, excitement, new areas, and the Super Bowl is no ordinary football game. All the emotions and experiences are heightened. Katina Smith, Thomas’s mother, was told by doctors to take it slow. She had re-learn how to live alone, control emotions, and travel. She went from a small rural area in Georgia to a stadium packed with people. Thomas has said that he is very excited for this moment because it will also be the first time she will be watching her son from the stands, not from a cell.
The Broncos’ ultimate weapon is Peyton Manning. In the AFC Championship, Manning outplayed Brady by being smarter with the football and converting on important third downs and in the red zone. Whenever a team is going up against Brady and the Patriots, analysts always say that the opposing team has to score touchdowns, not field goals. Manning did exactly that and earned another ticket to a Super Bowl. So now that the Super Bowl is over the biggest offseason question for him is what he will do next season? Manning is getting old and a few years ago had a serious neck injury that many people thought would end his career. He has come back, but instead of being a small Colt he has come back a ferocious Bronco. He has gone to the postseason and competed in two Super Bowls with the Broncos. He is a guaranteed Hall of Famer, and in his handshake with Bill Belichick, told Bill that this season may be his last. Either Manning will go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL or he will be back one more season trying to get back to a Super Bowl.
The Carolina Panthers competed in their first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004. In that game they ended up losing to the Patriots 32-29. The Carolina Panthers were led by an overwhelmingly tough defense lead by captain, Luke Kuechly. Kuechly is a linebacker out of Boston College and in 2012 won the NFL Rookie of the Year Award.
In the NFC Championship he intercepted Carson Palmer and returned it for a touchdown. The Panthers would blow out the Arizona Cardinals on their journey to the Super Bowl.
On offense the Panthers have weapons like Ted Ginn Jr. and Jonathan Stewart. They are important pieces to an option-running offense that also throws the ball deep, but it is Cam Newton that runs the show. Along with Russell Wilson, Can Newton is the only other impressive running-styled quarterback in the NFL. Players like Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel have fizzled out within their first two seasons. Newton is an impressive quarterback because he throws a tight spiral, doesn’t turn the ball over, and can turn a blown play into a first down. The one factor that Cam Newton and Russell Wilson have in common, and what other running quarterbacks lack, is that they always look to throw first and then run if there are no receivers down field. Cam Newton should be the NFL Offensive MVP because he led his team to a 15-1 regular season with players like Ginn Jr. and Stewart as his offensive lethal threat.
Super Bowl 50 was played in Santa Clara, California at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers. The construction of Levi’s Stadium started in April 2012 and opened in July of 2014. The stadium was constructed in Santa Clara rather than San Francisco because the negotiations with city officials for the 49ers to build a stadium on top of Candlestick Park fell through. After a few years, Santa Clara voters agreed to having the stadium built in the city and after raising money from private investors construction was underway. Super Bowl 50 was the first Super Bowl Levi’s Stadium hosted. •
