Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers stiff arms Ed Stinson of the Arizona Cardinals in the second half during the NFC Championship Game at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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The Panthers will face Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, a generational quarterback matchup that will launch a thousand fiery takes about what a real quarterback ought to be.
Even without Davis, the Panthers managed to finish the game with seven takeaways – six of those on defense.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, any knowledge gained from this loss will have to wait until next season to be shown off. In the meantime, they will have to come to grips with the fact that, in the biggest game of the season, one of the league’s best offenses could not get out of its own way.
When Newton flew into the end zone for a 12-yard third-quarter touchdown – no, he didn’t have a cape on – he posed like a superhero, dabbed a bit, and pointed the Panthers toward the Bay Area and Super Bowl 50. Their average of 142.6 yards per game is built upon their ability to move the ball with Jonathan Stewart, Cam Newton, Mike Tolbert and a committee of other names.
– Philly Brown, Panthers, had four receptions for 113 yards and a score – an 86-yard TD – in Carolina’s 49-15 win over Arizona. Earlier in the day, in the AFC, the Denver Broncos narrowly survived a late-game push from the New England Patriots to emerge with a win. DeHaven is battling prostate cancer and his inspiring story promises to be a Super Bowl-week highlight. Denver has reached the Super Bowl for a record-tying eighth time. He is expected to be honored as the MVP for the first time – fans chanted those three letters during the NFC championship postgame ceremony – and he’ll be playing in his first Super Bowl. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton will have his say on Sunday evening before it is all said and done.
“We’re going to do things according to situational football and we’ll see how it plays out”, Carolina coach Ron Rivera said. Palmer feels he has something to prove after a shaky performance in the divisional playoffs.
“We did what a lot of people said we couldn’t do”. You have two weeks. This season, Arizona’s Patrick Peterson and Carolina’s Josh Norman might have been the best, and they will be plying their trade in the biggest game of their careers in Sunday’s NFC championship game.
Underrated all season, Carolina is now favored by Las Vegas oddsmakers to beat the Broncos. “I felt like, deep down inside, they thought I couldn’t do it. They sent me back out to the wolves”.
“I might go into somebody else’s home and go to their fridge and open up the OJ, but I’m not going to let anybody come in my home and do that”, Boston said. Larry Fitzgerald re-emerged as one of the league’s most unsafe receivers this season.
But he had only 14 catches for 190 yards and his only touchdown was on a punt return.
“(I’m) not happy, plain and simple”, said Allen, who practiced on a limited basis Thursday.
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The coach also said All-Pro center Ryan Kalil’s knee is “fine” after leaving two series in the first half Sunday.
