The Carolina Panthers didn’t have many bright spots during their 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, but defensive end Kony Ealy turned in an MVP-like performance.
The second-year pro became the first player in Super Bowl history to have an interception and multiple sacks. He also was the first since 1993 to record multiple sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in a postseason game.
“It’s unfortunate, but it’s not the first time that has happened to a player,” Ealy said. “It’s really unfortunate. At the end of the day, it was what we did, it wasn’t what they did.”
Ealy’s big night started in the second quarter after the Broncos marched inside the Panthers’ 30-yard line. After dropping back in coverage, he turned and used one hand to corral a pass from quarterback Peyton Manning.
“I got to my spot, and I turned around and the ball was right there,” Ealy said. “It was just like slow motion.”
Ealy forced another turnover early in the fourth quarter when he knocked the ball away from Manning and then recovered the fumble.
Ealy’s final line: four tackles, three sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Not bad for a guy making his Super Bowl debut. Unfortunately for Ealy and Carolina, his effort wasn’t enough.
“You just have to come back and fight next year. I can’t sit and dwell. It sucks, but at the end of the day, I can’t dwell on it. The better team won,” he said. “They showed up, they played. They didn’t make mistakes. We did make mistakes. We can’t do that. Obviously, it results in a loss.”
–The Panthers picked a bad time to score a season-low 10 points. They put up at least 20 points in all 18 of their previous games except for their Week 16 loss in Atlanta, when they scored just 13.
“We tried a lot — a lot of different things,” offensive coordinator Mike Shula said. “We knew (the Broncos) were the best we’ve seen, and they proved it. They’re fast to the ball, they can rush the passer, they do a good job against the run game.
“You throw in the fact that we were just off on some things — had a couple turnovers early, just a little bit off on some other things. It can add up, and unfortunately it looked like that.”
-Quarterback Cam Newton continued a bad trend for league MVPs. A regular-season MVP hasn’t won the Super Bowl since Kurt Warner did it with the Rams in 1999.
-Running back Jonathan Stewart, who twice left in the first half with a sore foot, was limited to 29 yards on 12 carries, his lowest output with that many attempts since he had 14 carries for 29 yards against the 49ers on October 10, 2010.
-Tight end Greg Olsen was held to just four receptions on nine targets. In the Panthers’ two playoff wins, Olsen caught 12 of his 14 targets.
-Defensive end Jared Allen, who played in his first Super Bowl just three weeks after breaking a bone in his foot, finished with only one tackle and one quarterback hurry.
-Linebacker Thomas Davis, who played in his first Super Bowl just 13 days after having surgery on a broken arm, finished with seven tackles.
