I was wrong.
Usually hesitant to make predictions, I didn't see how Super Bowl 50 could go any other way. The Carolina Panthers would not only win, but they'd do it convincingly.
It wasn't just that the Panthers had rolled through the regular season and two playoff games, but the Broncos sure didn't look scary on offense. And, yeah, their defense was the league's best, but they hadn't played a quarterback like Cam Newton.
Before Sunday night, the most athletic quarterback Denver faced this season was Kansas City's Alex Smith. And even though he's sneaky athletic — gotta get in those code words — Smith's not close to the same threat the newly minted MVP is.
But while that all may be accurate, this became the biggest truth Sunday night — the Panthers hadn't played a defense like the Broncos. And that defense was as advertised.
"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."
There's no question the Panthers shot themselves in the foot, but at the very least, the Broncos loaded the gun.
"Man, their whole team was rattled," cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said, according to 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."
After tying a Super Bowl record with seven sacks and forcing four turnovers, the Broncos weren't done chirping.
"When you looked at who they played this year, what great defense did they play? I think the best defense other than us was Seattle, but Seattle's not the same as they were two years ago," linebacker Brandon Marshall said.
"They haven't faced anybody. Go down the schedule. Look who they played, man. AFC South, NFC South, whatever the case may be, they haven't faced anybody like us with our team speed, with our team athleticism, our soundness, our grit. They hadn't played a real team."
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 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, I and many others didn't make much of that recent history this week.
What's that saying about defenses and championships?
I’ll give Denver’s defense its due but our offense played like trash. Just because Denver’s D is good doesn’t mean you should be able to do absolutely nothing against them.
That’s how good this D is. So funny, Cam saying the Broncos didn’t do anything special. Well…I guess maybe he is right because the Broncos have been tearing up QB’s all season.
The extra week of preparation was huge for Denver’s defense. They had plenty of time to dial in a game plan tailored to stop the things we do best. Look at their quotes after the game. They were ready for everything we tried.
People are focusing on the late game errors, but what really hurt us were the early missed opportunities. That overthrow to Brown on our first drive kept us from getting into an early rhythm. Cotchery’s bobble. Tolbert’s fumble in the second quarter.
The offense did not need to be spectacular. Field goals and field position would’ve been enough.
yep. I still think our Defense could have won the game for us, but the refs put the pressure on us after the cotchery no catch and subsequent TD.
Shula made their defense look great b/c we had no answer for their persistent blitz. Stewie was banged up very early on could have been a huge reason why as well.