(AP Photo/Mike McCarn). Carolina Panthers’ Jonathan Stewart and Cam Newton celebrate a touchdown during the first half the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C.
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Discarded just one year into a three-year contract, Ginn beat his former team in nearly every way imaginable – catching passes, running reverses, returning punts and even chasing down Patrick Peterson after an interception – helping the Carolina Panthers to a 49-15 win in the NFC championship on Sunday.
He now leads Carolina out west to Santa Clara, California on February 7th to take on the AFC Champion Broncos in Super Bowl 50 at 5:30 PM. The Panthers took over and after a long drive, Newton threw a TD to rookie Devin Funchess and scored the 2 point conversion to make it 42-15.
Davis came out of the game midway through the second quarter after a Carson Palmer pass to Darren Fells.
Chants of “Super Bowl!” Unlike last week the Panthers kept the pedal down for a full 60 minutes and boosted the lead to 34-7 on the strength of two Newton touchdown runs.
This will be Newton’s first appearance in the Super Bowl and the first for the Panthers since they lost to the Patriots in 2004.
Now, the Broncos (14-4) are pulling out the respect card, especially when it comes to Newton.
That would be against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in two weeks. Palmer was 23/40 for 235 yards, one touchdown, four interceptions, and two fumbles.
One of his biggest helpers was Ted Ginn Jr., who was dumped by the Cardinals after last season.
Palmer, leading the Cardinals to a 13-3 regular season record and an NFC West championship, had a career-best 35 touchdowns.
“He’s probably the most risky quarterback in the National Football League right now”, Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib said.
“I’d say it’s a combination of things”, Belichick told reporters on Monday during his season-ending availability.
But the more Carolina pulled away, the more Palmer pressed. “We may switch it up here and there a little bit, but for the most part, we’re going to get pressure on the quarterback and cover”.
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That is a reference to Manning, who is 1-2 in past Super Bowls. Or will the Panthers strike early like they did against both the Seahawks and Cardinals, put a few scores on the board in the early going and then dare Manning to start throwing the ball? “That will be our main focus, to focus in on who we play, and that’s Denver, to focus on their players, to focus on what we do”.
