Denver rides defense to Super Bowl Title

 

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Coming into today’s game, many wondered how Carolina’s high-scoring offense would stack up against the NFL’s No. 1 defense.
Defense wins championships, according to many coaches. It’s definitely the way to describe Denver’s super celebration.
Seven sacks, four turnovers, led by defensive MVP Von Miller’s two and a half sacks, two turnovers was a part of the Broncos’ front seven studded defensive unit. Who served the high scoring Carolina Panthers a 24-10 defeat in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Miller’ s strong athletic frame was constantly on the move. Running through and around blockers all evening. Most of the night, Miller exploded off the ends, beating Carolina’s tackles to the point of attack.
“I just wanted to key into my guy, into the tackle, the center and into Cam,” Miller said. “His cadence is definately one of the hardest to get down in the National Football League. We keyed in. That’s the type of defense we’ve played all year long.”
This is only the 10th time a defensive player has won the award.  Seattles’ linebacker Malcolm Smith earned the award in Super Bowl XLVIII.
I guess its safe to say, Miller stole the show when the MVP award are usually given to an offensive player.
The win gave the Manning family a total of four Super Bowl rings with younger brother Eli earning two as the MVP in both Super Bowl XLII and XLVI.
The words of retiring never came out of Manning’s mouth. A decision he’ll look to make some time before next season.
“You know, I’ll take some time to reflect,” Manning said. “I have a couple of priorities first. I want to go kiss my wife and my kids, I want to go hug my family. I’m going to drink a lot of Budweiser tonight. I promise you that. I’m going to take care of those things first and say a little prayer to thank the man upstairs for this great opportunity. I’m just very grateful.”
Needless to say, defensive ends Malik Jackson and Derek Wolfe, outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware, and nose guard Sylvester combined by registering four and a half sacks and two turnovers.
“I certainly knew with this defense that this team would  have a chance,” Manning explained. “Our defense has been from the get-go, nothing but awesome.”
Miller’s first sack forced a turnover which led to a touchdown when Jackson fell on the loose ball in the end zone. That increased the lead, 10-0 following the extra point kick.
Afterward, kicker Brandon McManus nail a 34-yard field goal.
For the Panthers’ and its horrible evening, finding running room for the NFL’s top player turned out more frustrating in the pocket than rolling out for open options to pass or run. But it played in Denver’s favor as Jackson, Miller, Ware and Wolf rushed from both sides with interior help making sure the pocket would collapse.
“We had our opportunities,” Newton told. “It wasn’t nothing special they did.  We dropped balls. We turned the ball over. We gave up sacks, threw errant passes.”
Denver entered Super Bowl 50 without the intention of outscoring Carolina but to contain Newton, something most teams haven’t done a great job of this season.
A quick start on its first drive watched the Broncos drive 80 yards, ending with McManus 34-yard field goal with 10:43 left in the first quarter.
After trading possessions, Newton’s pass to Jerricho Cotchery looked like a catch until the head official ruled it incomplete after reviewing. It was one of several pitfalls which worked against the Panthers.
Carolina scored its only touchdown of the game on its first possession of the second quarter. Newton’s favorite target tight end Greg Olsen reeled in a 31-yard reception.  He was hauled down at the Broncos’ 15. Following Newton’s pass to Philly Brown at the two-yard line, a face mask penalty accessed on cornerback Aqib Talib, moved the ball to the one-yard where running back Jonathan Stewart dived over the top into the end zone.
The Broncos added another field goal, to take a 13-7 lead.  After, it was all Denver’ s defense including a forced fumble by safety Darian Stewart which was recovered by Wolfe at the 40.
To compound matters more,  Newton’s off target throws and dropped passes worked against the Panthers at times when Denver’s defense wasn’t at it’s best.  However, Ware didn’t sleep as he sacked Newton as time expired in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Carolina grabbed the momentum for a moment after Newton found Ted Gin twice for a total of 61 yards but ultimately led to Graham Gano’s kick bouncing off the upright.
On a similar drive, Manning had a pair of clutch passes to receiver Emmanuel Sanders to set up McManus 30-yard field goal to pad Denver’s lead 16-7.
Newton and the Panthers closed out the quarter on a bad note. Including an interception to safety T.J. Ward, who fumbled the ball but the Broncos retained possession after inside line back Danny Trevathan managed to come up with the loose ball with 5:44 left in the third quarter.
The breaks definitely favored the Broncos. Carolina missed a field goal, Newton’s seven sacks, and interceptions.  Manning, who is the first quarterback to win Super Bowls with two different teams, was responsible for a fumble but the ball bounced back to one of its offensive linemen.
While with the Indianapolis, Manning helped the Colts win Super Bowl XLI in 2006 as he took the MVP award.
However, when the opportunity presented itself, the Panthers didn’t make the best of it. That had much to with Denver’s defense.
Carolina’s defensive end Kony Ealy recorded two sacks and he forced a fumble of Manning by jolting his arm, causing the ball to fall to the turf. Several other times the Panthers force the Broncos to punt but its offense couldn’t find any rhythm.
Needless to say, it was empty ends for the Panthers.
With the game still within Carolina’s reach, 16-10, Denver’s running back C.J. Andersen battled his way into the end zone with the help of an offensive lineman from the two yards out.  Manning followed with a pass to receiver Benny Fowler to complete a two-point conversion which gave it a two-touchdown lead, 24-10 with 3:08 left.
It was no doubt that Denver’s defense was its cornerstone. Ware No 94 sacked Newton at the Panthers five-yard line. A 15-yard loss while throwing an incomplete pass on third and 25, and eventually suffocated the drive.
That’s when the clock began to wear on the Panthers and side with Denver.