You’ve done it! You made it through the first week leading up to Super Bowl 50. Monday marks the official start of Super Bowl week. With it comes Radio Row, celebrity sightings, big parties and, of course, the hot takes regarding the game. Let me get ahead of the crowd and give you a few of those hot takes to look for before all the festivities start.
Let’s start in the Mile High City. I am somewhat confused by what I’ve heard from Broncos Country this week. Denver fans seem to feel as if their team is being disrespected, not just from the Panthers fans but the national media as well.
My response: How can a team that is playing for the world championship be disrespected? This is a team that beat the defending champs, a team that has the best defense in the entire league and, no matter how Peyton Manning looked this season, a team that has one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever put on the pads.
I can promise you one thing, Broncos Country, you may feel disrespected, but there is no way the Carolina Panthers and head coach Ron Rivera are, or will be, disrespecting the Broncos.
If anything, it’s your prototypical underdog story, and it’s currently being shoved down our throats.
And while it’s easy to say that the “disrespect” and underdog mentality provide motivation for the Denver Broncos, it’s the Super Bowl! No motivation should be needed.
Again, I point my finger at the offense; if the underdog label is going to be handed out, then it’s because the offense has played poorly — we all know that. Someone has to be dubbed as the favorite, but you’re not playing in February without being a really good team.
Another stat that has already begun to make its way around the sports world has to do with the last time the Broncos played Cam Newton and the Panthers, when they sacked him seven times. But why anything that happened three seasons ago is a story is beyond me.
There is a ton of turnover in every sport, but Denver fans should know better than anyone that a team can look and feel completely different in just a handful of years. Peyton Manning is not too far removed from tossing seven touchdowns in one game — here is the painful reminder that he tossed a total of nine this season.
A lot can change in a few years.
Last, but certainly not least, will be the “big time” matchups every media outlet will look to break down leading up to the game on Super Sunday. The easy preview is Manning versus Newton, but the quarterback matchup is nowhere near the determining factor of this game.
Despite what Josh Norman will tell you, the biggest match up is not Carolina’s secondary versus the Broncos wide receivers, either; that would’ve been an all-time great matchup were Peyton Manning, you know, the Peyton Manning of old and not the old Peyton Manning.
The matchup that will determine the winner of Super Bowl 50 is the one nobody wants to watch. This game will be won in the trenches; the battle between the big fellas on the offensive and defensive lines will be the determining factor in the game.
The Panthers led the league in rushing yards per game at 148, while the Broncos are 7-0 when they ran the ball for the more 130 yards in a game — funny how two teams with superstar quarterbacks have to have a great day from their backs to have a chance at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
On the defensive side, it’s no secret that if you put pressure on Manning, he’ll get flustered. That will clearly be the game plan for the Panthers d-line. For Denver, pressure on Cam is not as crucial as taking away his ability to scramble.
It is much easier said than done, but DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller have to keep Cam contained and make him step up in the pocket. If they can force him to do so, Malik Jackson (the unsung hero of this defensive line) and Derek Wolfe need to be there to force him to get rid of the ball or, better yet, come up with the sack.
It will be tough to top Super Bowl 49 and the incredible game we witnessed last year, but a parade beats a close game any day!