It’s that time of the year again!… You know, that Sunday night where most Brits stay up watching a sport in which they’re not completely sure what is going on and complaining about all those damn adverts. A Sunday we deem acceptable to stay up all night drinking, eating and cheering for guys to be hit hard by one another. Of course, I’m talking about the Super Bowl. Hopefully, reading this article will ensure that you know what to expect on Sunday night, together with a few bits of info and opinions from myself.
Super Bowl 50 will see the #1 AFC seed team Denver Broncos come up against the #1 NFC seed team Carolina Panthers.
Let’s start with the Broncos…
The stage is perfectly set for future Hall of Fame, Denver Broncos Quarterback, Peyton Manning.
He will lead his team into the Super Bowl in which many speculate will be his last game on the gridiron.
Due to Peyton’s performances this year, you can probably guess that he isn’t the reason the team has been so successful this season. The reason the Denver Broncos are going to the Super Bowl: Defence!
The Broncos have the #1 ranked defence in the NFL and led the league in sacking the QB (52). Only two weeks in, the AFC Conference Final game they hit Tom Brady 20 times, more than any other QB has been hit in over 10 years. If the Broncos are going to win this game, Peyton Manning will need to play like he did vs the New England Patriots 2 weeks ago, and then some! The Broncos star wide receivers DeMaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders will also need to be at the top of their game coming up a Carolina Panthers defence that are not too bad themselves!
On to the Panthers…
The man looking to steal the show from Peyton Manning, is none other than the man who surely will be the MVP of the 2015 NFL season, Cam Newton, alongside his Carolina Panthers.
The Carolina Panthers, with 17 wins and only 1 loss this season, have been the best team in the NFL this year, led by their 6’5, 250lbs QB, Cam Newton.
If you’ve never seen Cam Newton play before and you don’t support a rival team (like I unfortunately do #GoHawks), you’ll enjoy what you see on Sunday. He can throw it long, he can run and he will do it all with a smile on his face, dancing, singing and flat-out pissing the other team off whilst doing it!
The 26-year-old QB will unapologetically score a touchdown on your team and he’s going to dance in the end-zone, infuriate the opposition and then he’s going to do it all over again. When Carolina played the Tennessee Titans a few months ago, Cam scored a TD and hit the ‘dab’. Since then, you can’t watch an episode of Match of the Day without seeing someone celebrate by ‘dabbing’. To only talk about Cam when talking about the Carolina Panthers, would be unfair however. They have the #6 ranked defence in the NFL and forced 9 turnovers against the leagues #1 ranked offence, the Arizona Cardinals… that’s pretty impressive!
If Carolina are going to win this game, which I cannot see it going any other way, you will see Cam Newton to Greg Olsen for a lot of 1st downs; Olsen is 3rd in total receiving yards in these playoffs. The Carolina Panthers are officially the favourite with the bookmakers to win this game by 5.5 points.
A LOT of people believe that this Super Bowl could be a very similar score line to that of Super Bowl 48, when my Seattle Seahawks beat the Broncos 43-7. I personally don’t see this Broncos defence giving up 43 points. Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and those boys are too good to let that happen. However, I do believe Cam Newton and the Panthers will be too much for the Broncos.
Luke Kuechly, who has also been an MVP candidiate, Thomas Davis, Jared Allen and Kawann Short blitzing 39-year-old Peyton Manning… Oh man! I would love to see Peyton Manning win a Super Bowl in his final game and retire as a 2-time Super Bowl Champion. I just can’t see him beating this Carolina Panthers team.
Predictions:
Carolina Panthers 30 – 17 Denver Broncos
MVP – Cam Newton
- @CharlieWilson21
