After going 15-1 in the regular season and throttling the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship game, the Carolina Panthers look like a team that will be tough to beat in the Super Bowl.
Advertisement
Three more interceptions of beleaguered quarterback Carson Palmer and cool execution by Newton in the second half turned the title game into a rout.
“There’s no question this is a sweet day; this was a sweet victory”, Manning said.
“Yeah, we are going to the Super Bowl”.
When asked what the Cardinals will have to do in order to reach Super Bowl 51, Keim emphasized the necessity of a pass rush.
“We won as a team”.
“We did what a lot of people said we couldn’t do”. It’s not over yet. Coincidentally, Denver Broncos coach Gary Kubiak is one of the other seven. Palmer was sacked three times, but the four interceptions are what did Arizona in.
Cam Newton – entertainer, icon… and Super Bowl quarterback. They had the league’s No. 2 scoring offense (30.6 points) and top total offense (408.3 yards), while the defense ranked in the top 10 in both scoring (19.6) and total defense (321.7). It started early when cornerback Justin Bethel missed a chance to bring down Ted Ginn Jr. near the line of scrimmage, and Ginn weaved his way across the field for a 22-yard touchdown for Carolina’s first score.
Also on the Panthers is safety Kurt Coleman. Most folks figure his fourth Super Sunday will be the last time he dons a helmet. The most notable one for KC is Jared Allen, who is with the Panthers. He drafted guys like Cam Newton, Johnathan Stewart, Luke Kuechly. Carolina has produced an NFL-best 27-straight games of 100 yards or more rushing.
A Cardinals touchdown and two-point conversion with 14:16 to play in the game made it 34-15, but the Panthers drove 84 yards in nine plays for a touchdown pass to Devin Funchess that made it 40-15 with 5:26 to play.
Criticized for being too conservative in the passing game in the overtime victory against Green Bay a week ago, Palmer let it fly from the outset.
Whether he felt emboldened by the $103.8 million extension the Panthers gave him in June or was just exhausted of the “not a prototypical passer” talk is unclear. The Panthers appeared to read every single offensive play that the Cardinals ran and then proceeded to run all over Arizona’s defense. Six plays later, he took a pitch from Newton, headed left and broke a tackle by Justin Bethel. Drew Brees led the Saints to a quick touchdown on that drive.
Almost as swiftly, it was 17-0.
Advertisement
In true Browns fashion, Cleveland ended that run by taking a disappointment, defensive tackle Phil Taylor, at 21.
