NFL NEWS

Broncos’ defense grounds Panthers’ high hopes

The Sports Xchange

February 08, 2016 at 6:22 pm.

Heading into Super Bowl 50, fans, media and even Las Vegas bookies not only believed the Carolina Panthers would beat the Denver Broncos, but would do so convincingly.

It wasn’t just that the Panthers rolled through the regular season and two playoff games. It was also that the Broncos didn’t look scary on offense. And, sure, their defense was the league’s best, but they had not played a quarterback like Cam Newton.

While that was true, what mattered more Sunday night was the Panthers had not played against a defense like the Broncos’. That defense was as advertised, even if Newton wasn’t in the mood to hand out credit.

“There wasn’t nothing special that they did,” a terse Newton said afterward. “We dropped balls. We turned the ball over, gave up sacks, threw errant passes. That’s it.”

Result of SB 50: Denver 24, Carolina 10.

There’s no question the Panthers shot themselves in the foot, as evidenced by season highs in both turnovers (four) and sacks (seven). But at the very least, the Broncos loaded the gun.

“Man, their whole team was rattled,” Denver cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said, per Steve Politi of The Star-Ledger. “Once we started hitting them, running backs fumbling the ball, (Newton) throwing picks, they ain’t been hit like we hit today.

“They haven’t played nobody, man! You look at their schedule and you see we’re the first dogs they’ve played and we showed it.”

The Panthers were the best team in the NFL for five months, but on this night, they were a shell of themselves. It didn’t help that the Broncos truly were the better team on this day and outside linebacker Von Miller was the best player on the field.

Two years ago, Denver’s high-flying offense was shut down by Seattle’s devastating defense in the Super Bowl. For some reason, many didn’t make much of that recent history this week.

It’s almost like there should be a saying that defense wins championships.

REPORT CARD VS. BRONCOS

–PASSING OFFENSE: F. QB Cam Newton was constantly harassed and was left bruised and battered by the Broncos. The Panthers allowed a season-high seven sacks and made a bundle of mistakes. They had at least three drops and Newton misfired to open receivers on at least three other occasions. He finished without a touchdown for just the third time this season. The others were on Thanksgiving at Dallas, when the defense scored two first-half touchdowns, and at Atlanta when the Panthers suffered their only loss before Super Bowl Sunday.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: D. The Panthers rushed for at least 100 yards for the 32nd straight game, but their 118 yards looks better on paper than anywhere else. The Broncos took RB Jonathan Stewart out of the game, limiting him to 29 yards. Newton was the Panthers’ leading rusher, but he gained 23 of his 45 yards on Carolina’s lone touchdown drive.

–PASS DEFENSE: B. QB Peyton Manning didn’t have to do much. The Broncos pretty much asked him to manage the game and not make mistakes. He made one, tossing an interception to DE Kony Ealy. Manning went 13-of-23 for 141 yards with no touchdowns in what will likely be the future Hall of Famer’s final game.

–RUN DEFENSE: C plus. The Broncos ran for just 90 yards, but C.J. Anderson ran hard and through tackles multiple times. He broke off a 34-yard run, the longest against the Panthers since Week 15, and went in for the game-sealing score late in the fourth quarter.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: D. The Panthers’ opening drive of the third quarter went OK until K Graham Gano booted a 44-yard field-goal try off the upright. Before that, Carolina’s punt coverage unit made an inexplicable mistake, thinking Denver returner Jordan Norwood had called a fair catch. He hadn’t and instead went 61 yards — a Super Bowl record — before he was tackled at the Panthers’ 14-yard line.

–COACHING: D minus. Ron Rivera, the NFL’s Coach of the Year, was outcoached by the Broncos, who handled the big stage much better than the mistake-prone Panthers. Offensive coordinator Mike Shula struggled to find ways to protect his quarterback or move the ball against Denver’s devastating defense.