So it’s the day that
every football lover has been waiting for. The top of all. The closing of a
season. Yes, the 50th Super Bowl will be held today, in LEVI'S
Stadium in San Francisco. Now, Super Bowl is a big deal, everyone; we all know
that. It’s about the hype, the madness, the celebrations, the halftime
show-celebrities, and of course, the game itself which always have two greatest
teams in every season from AFC Division and NFC Division. Celebrities caliber of
Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Black Eyed Peas, until Michael
Jackson had gotten the experience to perform in the halftime show of this
finale. This year, British legend Coldplay and also Beyonce will have the
chance to perform. For Bey, SB 50 will be the second time, after she had
amazingly performed at SB 47 at New Orleans, when Baltimore Ravens won it over
San Francisco 49ers. Super Bowl is also known for its commercial break; the
series of the commercial every year is a must watch.
But we know all those
things above are not the main reason why we care about the bowl game itself.
It’s all about the
game.
The SB 50 will have
Denver Broncos from the AFC and Carolina Panthers from the NFC. Now, I will try
my best to give my analysis on both team as objective as possible. As an
addition, I am at the point where I do not like anything associated with Denver
Broncos right now because I am rooting for New England Patriots. (always that
one team, never changed since the day 0). If you were watching the conference
division two weeks ago, Patriots were beaten 20-18 by Broncos, because the
unconverted 2 points-attempt after Rob Gronkowski touchdown. It hurts like
hell. I decided not to open any content or watch football video on YouTube
(which I do daily) for about a week after the Pats loss. It was very heartbreaking
and disappointing. I have to admit that Broncos’ defense was on BEAST MODE that
day; Tom Brady the G.O.A.T took the beating all the time during the game, Pats
offensive line was easily to be broken by Von Miller who led the Broncos
secondary.; it’s just not our day but hey, there is always another season.
Back to the topic, yes
I will write my analysis on this year’s SB, and even deep down in my heart I really want the Panthers to beat the
Broncos so bad and humiliated them, my article here is going to be fair and
square I promise.
QUARTERBACKS
When it comes down to
Carolina Panthers against Denver Broncos, all eyes are on the quarterbacks of
the two; Cam Newton of Panthers and the legendary Peyton Manning of the
Broncos. Even though I initially want this SB to be “Newton vs Brady”, I agree
that Newton vs Manning is very interesting as well. For those of you who watch
the NFL over the past decade, we all know how Peyton Manning worked really hard
and became a franchise quarterback for Indianapolis Colts and even bring the SB
to the city of Indianapolis in 2007 after defeating Chicago Bears , while Cam
Newton was drafted overall No.1 from Auburn in 2011, and been a phenomenal
quarterback all this time but sadly he apparently was just always in wrong
situation; either the main wide receivers got hurt, the whole team just plain
suck, or whatever; there was always a reason for Newton not to success………………until
this year.
Both Manning and
Newton are incredibly great quarterbacks, despite the age differences. Manning
will be 39 years old entering tonight’s matchup, and Newton will be 26 years
old. Manning made his NFL debut with Indianapolis Colts while Cam Newton was only
9 years young and still on primary school; probably not dabbing yet, but I’m
pretty sure he was already stuntin’ since the day 0.
Manning was known for
his greatness and excellence. He might not always be the best, but he had
proven to everyone who had watched him playing that he was more than just a
good quarterback. He is one of the greatest quarterbacks who had ever played
the game. He is a great player, driven and always motivated by experiences. To
NFL.com, Tom Brady had commented in 2011
"To me, he's the greatest of all time. He's a friend of mine, and someone that I always watch and admire, because he always wants to improve, he always wants to get better, and he doesn't settle for anything less than the best. So, when you watch the best and you're able to learn from the best, hopefully that helps me get better"
Newton, during his
college time at Auburn, helped the team to win National Championship in 2011,
and also winning the Heisman Trophy the same year (the award for best college
football player). Standing on 6 feet 5 inches, and weighing on 111 kilograms,
Cam Newton had become a threat for any defense that faced him since college
years. Carolina Panthers was very lucky and right to draft him, ahead of future
SB foe, Von Miller and other QBs such as Blaine Gabbert and Jake Locker, 1st
overall in 2011 pick.
Talking about this season, Manning had led the
Broncos to have a 12-4 record for the regular season and got the home field
advantage in AFC. Broncos was initially not a favorite to challenge this year’s
championship; after releasing TE Julius Thomas to Jacksonville Jaguars, WR Wes
Welker to the St. Louis Rams and Center Will Montgomery to the Chicago Bears.
They also parted ways with head coach John Fox and signed their former
quarterback Gary Kubiak as the head coach.
The Broncos started
this season with 7 straight victories, including against Kansas City Chiefs and
Green Bay Packers. On the 8th game of the season, Indianapolis Colts ended
their winning streak, and the following week Kansas City Chiefs beat them in
Denver. The next 3 games ended up with a victory for them, against Chicago
Bears, New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers, and followed by another 2
losses against Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers before ended the regular
season with 2 wins against Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Chargers. Even
though Manning was injured because tearing his left foot’s plantar fasciitis
and did not play as the starting quarterback from their 9th game
until the last week, his backup Brock Osweiler stepped up and filled Manning’s
vacant place. Speculations were also spreaded that Osweiler would be the future
QB for the team and put Manning on bench until the last game of the season that
coach Kubiak announced that Manning would start the playoffs games. I guess
quality and experience combined never fail to amuse anyone.
Manning did his job
nicely during playoffs game, after beating Pittsburgh Steelers and my team on
the way to this year’s SB. His smart football and the receivers troops who
played more effective and did not making any mistake plus Broncos’ stellar
defense was enough to take the team to their eighth Super Bowl appearance. As a
matter of fact, Broncos’ defense was the no. 1 in passing yards, total yards
and sacks. Meanwhile Newton noted an incredible season with his team; winning
15 out of 16 games played and only got a loss from Atlanta Falcons. This stable
and consistent performance from Newton and friends was regarded as one of the
best in team’s history. This season Newton had noted 45 total touchdowns, 3837
passing yards and 636 rushing yards. Clearly this guy is dominating both air
and ground game. With a very athletic physique, Newton is unbeatable on air
game or running game; don’t matter, Newton will be there and break your
defenders.
But in Super Bowl,
talent is not everything. Experience matters too. Manning has been around for
17 seasons with 3 Super Bowl appearances before today and winning 1 of them.
This is going to be Newton’s first Super Bowl. Clearly from the experience side,
Manning is ahead of Newton, and this could be the X factor of this game.
However, if Newton is consistent with his form of game, that much of experience
is not really needed to be honest
QUARTERBACKS: TIE
RUNNING BACKS AND FULL
BACKS
For ground game,
Broncos split the load to Ronnie Hillman and C.J Anderson mostly. Both had been
a great solution for the offense in case the quarterback took too many beatings
or the receivers were covered tightly all day. The opposing team has Jonathan
Stewart as their main running back. Backups Cameron Artis-Payne and Fozzy
Whittaker were only on the game on several snaps, but the main load is for
Stewart. The former Oregon Duck noted 989 yards this season in 13 games. So far
Stewart had scored 8 touchdowns plus 1 extra receiving touchdown during regular
season. Stewart will attempt to keep up the pace today against a staunch
Broncos run defense that ranked 3rd during the regular season.
Alternative for Stewart is uhm…the quarterback itself, Cam Newton. Newton
during the regular season scored 10 (TEN!!!!) rushing touchdowns plus 2 more
touchdowns against Cardinals 2 weeks ago on NFC Championship game, only 1 TD
shy to running back like Adrian Peterson, and even more than LeSean McCoy who
only scored 3 TDs this season. Newton is a dangerous threat on the end zone and
Broncos offense will have to work extra harder to stop Panthers’ ground game.
And even after they have worked harder, I think Panthers’ running game will be one
of the alternative solutions for tonight. One more thing, Panthers got Mike
Tolbert as their FB, who contributed 3 TDs for the team this season. Tolbert is
utilized in goal line situation sometimes. Broncos’ FB slot is filled by their
originally-TE player, Virgil Green. Green is not a serious threat for scoring.
RUNNING BACKS AND FULL BACKS:
PANTHERS
WIDE RECEIVERS:
Broncos main
receivers are Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas. Both had scored 6 TDs for
the Broncos this season. Thomas will get more attention from Panthers’ defense,
since he is more well-known, and considered more threatening. Standing on 5’11,
Sanders is not as tall as Thomas (6’3), but that could be actually beneficial
for Broncos. Sanders is the safety valve on the Broncos' offense.
As quoted from what
Sanders said to denverpost.com, "I want people to talk about me when they
talk about who is the best wide receiver," said Sanders, who is 5-foot-11,
180 pounds. "The thing is, I am a No. 2 wide receiver over here. We got
Demaryius Thomas, but still I am out here battling. I am still out here trying
to prove that I am one of the best wide receivers."
At times, Sanders has
been the Broncos' No. 1 receiver. He's been a dependable target for quarterback
Peyton Manning when Thomas was struggling.
"The way he runs
his routes, you can see him. You can tell when he drops his hips and is going
to break out. It doesn't happen with everybody," Manning said. "He is
a tremendous competitor. He loves football. He loves working on his craft. I
really enjoy playing with the guy."
Sanders has welcomed
the "Robin" role to Thomas' "Batman" since joining
the Broncos in 2014. Thomas and Sanders each eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for
the second consecutive season. This week, Robin might have to pick up the bulk
of the load while Batman is a busy with a worthy opponent.
Panthers wide receivers list is
the opposite of the Broncos’
The Panthers have
a group of wideouts who’ve embraced their roles, checked their egos and do
whatever it takes to win. “We know we suck,” Corey Brown said sarcastically.
“We’re just going to continue to make plays and do what we’ve been doing all
year.”
Brown, Jerricho
Cotchery, Ted Ginn Jr. and Devin Funchess don’t have impressive resumes that
compare to Denver’s Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. Thomas is a
three-time Pro Bowl pick with four straight seasons of at least 1,300 yards
receiving and two straight seasons with more than 100 catches. Sanders went to
the Pro Bowl last year and has two straight seasons with 1,100-plus yards
receiving and more than 75 catches. Meanwhile, the Panthers rely on an
undrafted free agent, a journeyman veteran, a first-round bust and a rookie.
“Those guys have been
playing lights-out since day one,” Newton said. “Ted Ginn, who was a bust for
so many people. I heard Jerricho Cotchery was washed up 10 years ago. Philly
Brown had no hands. Devin Funchess was too high of a pick for the Carolina
Panthers. “We didn’t let anyone else dictate to us that we knew what we were
capable of. It’s a very close-knit group and guys selling out for each other.”
The Panthers did have
a No. 1 receiver but Kelvin Benjamin tore his ACL in pre-season. Without him,
tight end Greg Olsen became Newton’s go-to guy. Olsen has 77 catches for 1,104
yards. None of the wide receivers even caught 50 balls. Ginn led the unit with
44 catches for 739 yards and 10 TDs. He was the ninth-overall pick by Miami in
2007 but never lived up to his potential and has bounced around the league.
“We’re underrated,” Ginn said. “We got a lot of guys who can play on another
team and be great.”
Brown, signed out of
Ohio State in 2014, had 31 catches for 447 yards and four TDs this season. “We
don’t care what people have to say about us and we don’t listen to any of
that,” he said.
Cotchery had 39
catches for 485 yards and three TDs in his 12th season in the NFL and second
with the Panthers. He’s more valuable to the team as a mentor to the younger
players.“We just grew extremely close,” he said. “Everything just came together
for us.”
Funchess, a
second-round pick, caught 31 passes for 473 yards and five TDs. He also had a
TD catch against Arizona in the NFC championship game. “When Kelvin went down,
we had to step up,” Funchess said. “And we stepped up big since Week 1 and then
we never looked back.”
“All that he
brought as a player he brings to our meeting room,” Cotchery said. “That same
competitiveness, wanting his group to be the best that they can be, working
every day to perfect your craft. He’s a guy that has a lot of wisdom about the
game and he knows how to communicate that.”
With so many and stacking options
on wide-outs, Newton can do a lot of things and this is what Broncos’ defense
should be worry about. They might be not as well-known as Sanders or Thomas,
but these guys worked extra hard and are very ready to tear Broncos’ defense
into pieces (even though I think it is impossible since Broncos D is the
1st rank of passing
yards, but well these troops can be a serious threat for Broncos D)
WIDE RECEIVERS: PANTHERS
TIGHT ENDS
Panthers’ tight end,
Greg Olsen is Cam Newton’s favorite target. Former Chicago Bear caught 8 TDs
already this season and since Kelvin Benjamin is injured and out for the
season, Olsen got a new role as Newton’s favorite. Meanwhile Broncos’ TE, Owen
Daniels and Vernon Davis were combined for 3 TDs (Davis didn’t even score
actually). Manning also doesn’t target his TE that much; only on short passes
conditions and blocking mostly.
TIGHT ENDS: PANTHERS
Greg Olsen running (wearing white)
OFFENSIVE LINE
It’s Broncos’ Ryan
Harris-Evan Mathis-Matt Paradis-Louis Vasquez-Michael Schofield against Michael
Oher-Andrew Norwell-Ryan Kalil-Trai Turner and Mike Remmers of Panthers. Seeing
how these part of the games would compete, Panthers are ahead of the opposing
side on offensive line since it’s always been more time for Newton to decide
where he is going to throw to. The cohesiveness of the line makes a solid
pocket for the quarterback and facing the no. 1 defense in the nation on
passing yards, Newton needs to think really wise about his options. Broncos’
defense are so quick that before you know it, the ball is in their hands
already.
O-LINE: PANTHERS
DEFENSIVE LINE
For the D-Line, it’s
Broncos’ Derek Wolfe-Sylvester Williams-Malik Jackson, against Panthers’
Charles Johnson-Star Lotulelei-Kawann Short-and Jared Allen. It’s hard to pick
which one’s better from both since both line are an excellent pass rusher. But
we have to remember how Broncos’ D had been eating all season, especially the
last game vs Patriots that I won’t forget; where Tom Brady was pressured the
whole time. The three-man front of Derek Wolfe, Sylvester Williams
and Malik Jackson does the dirty work to get Von Miller and Demarcus Ware their
openings, and the secondary is so strong that opposing quarterbacks, already
under pressure, find few options downfield. Panthers’ O-Line will
face the real deal tonight, and Broncos is ahead of the Carolina pride on
D-Line.
D-LINE: BRONCOS
LINEBACKERS
Another huge battle
between the two. Linebackers are sometimes said the quarterbacks of defense; they
are the players who take control of the defense and give command, and
apparently they play a very crucial role on defense. My prediction on the
linebackers spots for tonight will be Thomas Davis-Luke Kuechly- A.J.Klein
versus Von Miller-Demarcus Ware-Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevathan. Again
this battle seems like a tie since Kuechly is undoubtedly a great linebackers;
not only do the physical job but Kuechly has a great positioning skills that
allows him to collect interceptions; he even did it twice this post-season.
Davis and Klein sneaked in to the quarterback and Kuechly will be mounted in
the middle to avoid passes and tackle running opposing players. Davis and Klein
will have the advantage to go through Broncos O-Line to sack Manning and Kuechly
needs to focus on Hillman’s ground game, and short Manning route to Sanders or
Daniels
Luke Kuechly (#59)
.
On the other side, Von
Miller who has been guaranteed a franchise tag during next season’s preseason will
determine the success of Broncos tonight. The duo (Miller and Ware) are
certified-pass rushers, and Panthers’ D-Line need to be careful this time to
protect Newton. If Newton’s blind side got attacked all the time, Broncos can
force turnovers all the time and Newton might not have enough time to decide
and could end up being intercepted by the Broncos’ No Fly Zone (a nickname for Talib-Harris Jr.-Ward-Stewart). Miller and Ware will get to Newton a couple
times today, and I expect a fast throwing game from Newton; something that
Broncos like since the chance of intercepting or swatting the pass will be
bigger than if Newton really knows where to throw it.
LINEBACKERS: BRONCOS
CORNER BACKS:
Broncos Defense is the
strongest now. This is no overstatement. This is the truth. The duo of
experienced Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr. could be a big cemented wall for Panthers’
wide-outs. Not only tremendous at intercepting ball, Talib especially is a
scoring machine too . From 3 INTs he made this season, 2 were returned to the
house for 6 points. Harris Jr. is also a speed demon. Entering his 4th
season, former Kansas Jayhawks had intercepted 2 passes and 1 is converted to a
touchdown. Ted Ginn Jr. and Corey Brown need to make sure that their hands can
grab Newton’s pass. Panthers’ offense cannot outrun Talib or Harris Jr for
sure, so probably baiting Talib or Harris Jr. will be a good ideafor the
offense strategy. On top of all, Broncos CBs are not an option to be run
through by the wideouts; some special strategy has to be utilized.
Aqib Talib takes it to the house for touchdown
Meanwhile Panthers’
had Josh Norman, who had stopped explosive Odell Beckham Jr. during a Panthers-Giants game earlier
this season, and Charles Tillman. My prediction is that Norman will cover
Thomas all day, and Tillman will be assigned to Sanders, which will be won by
Sanders. Broncos got an advantage of facing inexperienced Panthers’ wide-out
here.
CORNERS: BRONCOS
SAFETIES
Broncos’ hard hitting
safeties are vicious. For real. They are incredibly cruel in hitting people
from the opposing teams. TJ Ward and Darian Stewart will definitely start
tonight and they can be relied on facing Panthers’ ground game; helping
Miller-Ware duo. One thing that I noticed from Broncos’ defense is that they
are great at tackles but not at passes. Remember how Gronk and Julian Edelman
got all those passes when Brady are not pressured? I am sure Talib and Harris
Jr. will help this gap and this could be a weak spot for Broncos. If Talib and
Harris Jr. had to help the safeties in covering the ball, they will not be
committed to cover one of the Panthers’
receiver all game long. If Newton can take advantage of this, Panthers can
score a lot on them. This kind of strategy was used by KC Chiefs when they beat
Broncos during regular season.
Panthers’ safeties
will be Kurt Coleman and Roman Harper. Panthers’ last line will rely on the CBs
instead of safeties, so Manning could also spot this weakness on offense to win
this game. Setting up a route for Sanders or Thomas or even Hillman to where
the safeties are could add up some gain of yards for the team
SAFETIES: BRONCOS
SPECIAL TEAM:
In this kind of game,
I don’t think it will be decided by the special team. But as an addition, both
kickers has an equal level; Broncos’ Brandon McManus had made 30 FG out of 35
attempts, while Graham Gano of Panthers had made 30 FG out of 36 attempts.
Punters quality are about the same too between
Britton Colquitt (Broncos) and Brad Nortman (Panthers)
SPECIAL TEAM: TIE
COACHES:
Ron Rivera vs Gary
Kubiak. A very interesting duel between the two and both had won a Super Bowl before, Rivera with the
Bears on 20th Super Bowl and Kubiak has three rings as offensive
coach and quarterback coach with 49ers and Broncos. I am honestly impressed
with how Rivera changed a 3-12-1 team
into a 15-1 team in just one season. Kubiak also did a very great job by
taking Broncos to the SB after John Fox’s departure. But I think Rivera is
supported by a better coaching staffs, so I would have Rivera to coach my team
on this Super Bowl
COACHES: PANTHERS
With that being said,
I predict that Panthers will win over Broncos on this Super Bowl, but with a
small score. Probably by 1 touchdown. Every player should step up and do the
best playing at this level because everyone can be a hero. Even an unknown
Malcolm Butler of Patriots made a game winning INT at last season SB. The key
of this game is not only Manning or Newton; but it’s about the cohesiveness of
both sides to play a game of football as a strong team.
LEVY'S PREDICTION:
LEVY'S PREDICTION:
FINAL SCORE: BRONCOS
20- PANTHERS 27
FINAL MVP: CAM NEWTON
Cam Newton will get the last dab.
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