Super Bowl 50 could be Peyton’s last chance to take the field.
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This matchup features two outstanding defenses – Denver is No. 1, Carolina is No. 6 – against quarterbacks who reside at opposite ends of the style spectrum, the Broncos’ Peyton Manning and Panthers’ Cam Newton.
Rest assured no player will have more eyes watching him during Super Bowl 50 on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, the venue for what looks like Manning’s last rodeo – his own words uttered to Patriots coach Bill Belichick postgame two Sundays ago that was captured by NFL Network cameras.
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File).
You would think that two of the best defenses in pro football would play a low-scoring game.
In the last month, Malzahn has been in high demand for interviews as Newton led the Carolina Panthers through the NFC playoffs into his first Super Bowl appearance.
The Panthers (17-1) are on a roll, jumping on playoff opponents early.
For Jackson and Colquitt, it’s an opportunity to win their first title after losing to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII, while Manning is seeking his second Super Bowl victory in four tries.
This year’s super bowl tickets are selling for about $5,000 on average, but that didn’t stop one Bozeman resident from getting to the big game.
Cotchery had 39 catches for 485 yards and three TDs in his 12th season in the National Football League and second with the Panthers. One quarterback will struggle to generate offense against an under-the-radar defense.
But the trigger for Carolina is establishing the running game.
“We’re just as excited as we’ve ever been”, said Stewart. “They’ve given us a shot all year and we are here because of them”.
The “formula” vs. Newton is a little different and more complex. To put that in perspective, no other team has a streak longer than six games.
Manning, who once threw seven touchdowns in a single game, had just nine in 10 games this season offset by 17 interceptions as questions over his age and diminishing arm strength became a recurring storyline. He’s more valuable to the team as a mentor to the younger players. While he moved on to the New York Giants after that, he said he credits the Broncos organization with teaching him how to win. Did you know they were the NFL’s sixth-best defense, allowing 322.9 yards per game, and 19.2 points per game, also sixth best? The Panthers get more takeaways than any team in the league and their quarterback is unstoppable when he’s at his best.
When Manning ditched his glove in training camp, wideouts Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders said it didn’t seem to affect his velocity or his accuracy. “It’s a whole mindset that the mastery of the pocket, the mastery of the data”.
“I’ve done it both ways, staying at the hotel, and moving the night before”, Kubiak said. But I don’t have to.
I really want Super Bowl 50 to be a game that comes down to the wire.
The Panthers may be a small market team and unfamiliar to some, but make no doubt it – they’re no fluke.
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Newton, the presumptive NFL MVP, is the biggest reason the Panthers went an NFL-best 15-1 this regular season.
