Super Bowl 50 has plenty of storylines. We dive deep into the five largest.
By Jeff Jarboe
Peyton Manning seeks his second super bowl victory in what may be his final NFL game, Cam Newton seeks his first super bowl victory and a chance to establish himself as the league’s next best thing at the quarterback position.
Meanwhile, both defenses look to establish their dominance against these two quarterbacks, as Von Miller looks to continue his success rushing the QB and Josh Norman looks to solidify himself as the best corner in the league.
Here are five storylines to keep your eye on:
1. The Traditional QB vs. The New Breed
Cam Newton made headlines last week when he said, as an African American quarterback, he scares people because there’s, “nothing they can compare me to.” As an onlooker, I think the best aspect of sports is making comparisons between new age players and players of the past.
There are certainly aspects of Newton’s game that are similar to that of other players–his ability to use his large body-frame to shed off tacklers and avoid sacks. For example, he’s similar to Big Ben–but as a complete player Newton is certainly one of a kind. He’s the new breed of quarterback. He’s big, strong, and fast; capable of making all the throws. And he’s flashy.
That is exactly why his matchup with Peyton Manning‘s Broncos is such a fantastic storyline–the new breed of quarterback goes up against the traditional quarterback. The confident, flashy touchdown celebrator goes up against the modest, strictly-business game manager. Whatever happens on Sunday, Manning’s legendary career is likely to come to an end while Newton’s is just beginning. The question is, which one will end/begin on a high note?
2. The Best Defense vs. The Best Offense
Denver’s defense wasn’t just the best in the league this season; they were one of the best defenses of all time. They finished the regular season with a league-high 52 sacks, a league-high 23 interceptions, and allowed a league-low 283.1 total yards per game (199.6 pyg, 83.6 ryg). Led by their two pass-rushing freaks, Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, this defense has carried the load in the playoffs and is the reason Peyton Manning has an opportunity to win his second and final ring. In the AFC Championship game against Tom Brady, Denver’s pass rush had 20 QB hits, the majority of which came from Miller, who sacked the hall of fame quarterback two and a half times.
Denver’s pass rush will have a much tougher opponent in Super Bowl 50 however, as Carolina’s offensive line is leagues better than the disheveled group New England put together in the AFC title game. It’s because of this improved offensive line, which features pro bowlers Ryan Kalil and Trai Turner, that Carolina has been able to establish one of the league’s most dominant offenses. They finished behind only Rex Ryan’s Buffalo Bills (152.0) in rush yards per game during the regular season with 142.6, and they’ve raised that number to 148 rypg in the playoffs. The running game is just the beginning though; it’s the catalyst.
Once this team gets the running game going and the defense begins to stack the box, Cam Newton makes an adjustment and in the blink of an eye Tedd Ginn Jr. can beat them for 80 yards and a touchdown.
The key for the Denver D is going to be stopping the running game and unleashing Von Miller in the passing game. Alternatively, the key for Carolina’s offense is to establish the running game early, but to also be aggressive in the passing game and to protect Newton when doing so.
3. Denver’s star wideouts vs. Carolina’s corners
While many members of Denver’s defense enjoyed career years in 2015, one of their star players on offense had a bit of an off-year–wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. On paper 105 catches for 1,304 yards and six touchdowns certainly doesn’t seem like an off-year, but throw in a league-high 20 drops and take into consideration the decrease in yards (2014: 1,619, 2013: 1,430) and touchdowns (2014: 11, 2013: 14) from the last two seasons and one will realize Thomas’s drop-off. In Denver’s two playoff games, Thomas has only six catches for 52 yards and no touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Sanders has taken on the role of number one wideout through the first two playoff games with a total of 10 catches for 147 yards, which creates the dilemma: who is Josh Norman going to cover? Norman seized the title of the league’s top shutdown corner with ease this year, shutting down the likes of Randall Cobb, T.Y. Hilton, and most recently Larry Fitzgerald. Despite his lack of production in the playoffs, it will likely be Thomas who draws coverage from Norman, meaning that Sanders will be matched up against Robert McClain. No matter who these two line up against on Sunday, one of them is going to have to rise to the occasion if Denver is going to find balance against this ball-hawking Panther defense.
4. Carolina’s magical season vs. John Elway‘s vision
Though it took a solid month and a convincing win against the Seahawks in Seattle for the rest of the football world to take the Panthers seriously, by Week 5 of this season Carolina had made one thing clear–this was their year. Week after week the Panthers kept winning and the dream of an undefeated season was slowly becoming a reality. Sadly for the Panthers and their fans, Dan Quinn spoiled their perfect season in Week 16 as the Falcons handed them their first loss. But if this team can come away with a win on Sunday, that loss won’t matter. If they win this game, they will have completed what was one of the most magical seasons in the NFL in recent memory.
Name a super bowl-winning team in the last decade that won as many games and had as much fun as the Carolina Panthers did this season. You can’t. Whether you like the dancing and the sideline group photos or not, the Panthers won a lot of games this season and they had a lot of fun while they did it. If they cap it off with a super bowl victory, it would make one heck of a storybook ending.
A Broncos super bowl win on the other hand, would cap off a vision that general manager John Elway had three years ago after his team lost to the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII. A vision that featured Peyton Manning as a game manager, leading a run-heavy offense and backed by a homegrown, tough defense. Now, that vision has been realized–the additions of DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, and T.J. Ward has turned this defense into the league’s best and they’re the reason they’ve made it this far. Manning is far from the record-setting quarterback he was just two years ago, but he’s still one of the league’s best game managers under center.
The offense runs through C.J. Anderson on the ground, but when needed Manning can air it out to Demaryius and Emmanuel down the field. Firing John Fox and completely changing this team’s philosophy wasn’t a popular decision at first, but if they win on Sunday, Elway’s complete makeover would have been worth every bit of criticism he received.
5. Officiating
Last but not least, the biggest storyline in this game could be how the NFL’s officiating crew performs in the final game of what was a very bad year for NFL officiating. This past December, Sports Illustrated published an article titled, “The Officiating Crisis: Worse than Ever, or Just Louder Critics?” in which they listed some of the officiating blunders that occurred this season. Among them were:
- Week 4, Detroit-Seattle: No flag after K.J. Wright illegally batted a Calvin Johnson fumble out of the end zone. The penalty would have given the Lions possession on the one-yard line with under two minutes left, down 13-10, but instead Seattle got the ball and ran out the clock.
- Week 10, Jacksonville-Baltimore: No false start penalty on Jacksonville, which would have resulted in a 10-second runoff and the end of the game, and instead resulted in a Baltimore face mask penalty, an untimed down, and a game-winning Jacksonville field goal.
- Week 11, Bills-Patriots: Officials didn’t stop the clock when Sammy Watkins went out of bounds with two seconds left, costing Buffalo a chance at one final Hail Mary play.
These are just three of the many missed calls and/or unjustified calls by NFL officials this past season, and it is legitimate cause for concern as we head into the most anticipated football game of the year. With such aggressive and confident groups such as Denver and Carolina, things are bound to get a little chippy on Sunday, so the refs are going to have to be on their “A” game. Especially the head ref for the game, Clete Blakeman, who was the most recent referee to be involved in a mishap just a few weeks ago when he botched the coin toss in the dramatic NFC Divisonal game between Arizona and Green Bay.
Let’s hope Blakeman gets it right this time around.