In about 24 hours the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers will take to the field for Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA for the right to be crowned champions.
It’s Peyton Manning, the 18-year veteran and his Broncos vs. the young gun in 26-year old Cam Newton and his Panthers.
Below is what the Denver Broncos need to do in order to win this year’s big game.
Slow down Cam Newton
This is a lot easier said than done.
It won’t be announced until later tonight, but Cam Newton is hands down the MVP of the 2015-16 season.
Newton finished the regular season going 296 of 495 for 3837 yards, 35 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. He also added 636 yards rushing to go with 10 more rushing touchdowns.
His combination of size (6’ 5”, 245lbs), speed and a rocket for an arm make him as close to unstoppable as you can get.
However, he hasn’t faced the best defense in all of football yet this season.
The Broncos allow just 283.1 total yards per game (1st), 199.6 passing yards (1st), 83.6 rushing yards (3rd) and just 18.5 points (4th).
Denver got to New England quarterback Tom Brady fast and often in their AFC Championship win.
On 39 passing plays, Brady was hit 20 times, with 12 of those coming on just four-man rushes.
If Denver can continue this success in getting after the quarterback, it will allow for them to drop an extra guy into coverage, not only to help against receivers and tight ends, but to put a spy on Newton trying to get out of the pocket to pick up yards with his legs as well.
It isn’t like they haven’t had success against great quarterbacks on their run to the Super Bowl.
Denver got wins against Joe Flacco, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers to go with two wins a piece over Philip Rivers and Tom Brady.
Their rushing defense has also been downright unstoppable.
After allowing the 83.6 rushing yard per game in the regular season, Denver has allowed just 64.5 rushing yards per game in the playoffs.
The Broncos also allow a meager 3.3 yards per rushing attempt.
This defense is going to turn the Panthers offense one-dimensional.
It’ll be up to Newton to find a way to move the ball.
And with players rushing like Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, he won’t have much time to throw the football.
And it isn’t like the Bronco’s secondary is a bunch of no-names either.
Both starting safeties T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart are returning to the lineup to go with the likes of Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr.
Look for Newton to struggle against one of the best defenses in the last few seasons.
Run the football effectively
The Carolina Panthers have a pretty stout defense themselves, allowing just 88.4 rushing yards per game (4th).
The Broncos have to get something going on the ground with running backs C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman.
Anderson broke out last week with 72 yards on 16 carries (4.5 yards per carry) and has the ability to take games over.
He hasn’t done it much this year, but when he gets going the speedster is extremely difficult to stop.
Denver is 9-0 on the year when they top 105 rushing yards.
It won’t be easy, but it isn’t impossible to do that against Carolina.
That and the fact that even if they don’t get the yardage, one of the best defenses against Cam Newton is to keep him on the sidelines.
An effective running game will keep him there.
Get an efficient game out of Peyton Manning
To go along with the running game, the Broncos don’t need Peyton Manning to go out there and set all kinds of records.
They just need him to manage the game and keep the chains moving.
If there’s one hole in the Panthers defense, it is their secondary, which allowed teams to throw for 234.5 passing yards per game against them.
During the playoffs, the same group has allowed four touchdowns and an average of 276 passing yards per game.
If Manning can get his guys in the right position pre-snap and get the ball out of his hands quickly, the Broncos offense will stand a chance.
As long as the game doesn’t turn into a shootout, Manning has enough in the tank to put together a similar stat line like in the AFC Championship (17 of 32 for 176 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions).
As long as he doesn’t turn the ball over, the Broncos stand a much better chance in this one than most of the experts and people around the country are giving them credit for.
Prediction
Just two weeks ago, I wrote how I didn’t see Peyton Manning riding off into the sunset with a ring and that the New England Patriots would defeat the Broncos. I was wrong then, but it didn’t have much to do with what Manning did on the field.
Not to discredit him, he did exactly what he needed to do in order to win that football game. What really stuck out to me though is just how much I underrated the Denver Broncos defense.
Yes, it is quite hard to underrate one of the best defenses in all of football (and one of the better units of the last few years), but they showed last week they were more than capable of taking over a football game. They hit Patriots quarterback Tom Brady 20 times, more than any quarterback was hit in any game in 2015.
The Broncos are also just the fourth team since the 1970 merger to lead the NFL in fewest yards allowed per carry and fewest yards allowed per throw. Their defense is no joke, no matter who they have gone up against.
Denver just seems to win close games, with their NFL record of 11 wins this year decided by seven points or less. Call me crazy, but I’m changing my tune and going with the underdog this week. Manning gets to ride off into the sunset with his championship after all; Broncos 24, Panthers 17.
