It was a clash of the old and the new with Cam Newton and Peyton Manning doing battle in Super Bowl 50. After a dominating defensive performance, the Denver Broncos won the game, 24-10.
It wasn’t the best night of Peyton Manning’s career by any stretch, but on this night, the moment was his. It may have been his final night as a professional football player. If it was, then he got to write as good a script as you can, walking off a champion, as the Denver Broncos are the champions of Super Bowl 50.
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If it was the final night, what a way to go out. To come back from injury, first as a backup, and then to ride it one more time to a title. If he is walking off of the field for the final time, it’s a memorable backdrop as the confetti was flying.
The story of the evening was not Manning, it was the Denver defense. Von Miller was named the game’s MVP, but the defense got the job done. Other than the nine play, 73 yard drive that ended in a Jonathan Stewart touchdown, the Panthers’ offense never got in any rhythm. Cam Newton was sacked seven times, and hit countless others. He looked more bothered than he had all season long, and it affected him.
Von Miller recorded two strip-sacks on his way to an MVP performance, and he pulled the rest of the defense along with him. DeMarcus Ware added two sacks of his own, and he made Michael Oher looked bad doing it. The Panthers’ offensive line could not handle the Denver pass rush, and that was the story. When the quarterback has no time to throw, he doesn’t perform well, and Cam Newton is no different.
We knew it was going to be a good game when the score was 10-0 in favor of Denver at the end of the first quarter. We said earlier in the week that if Carolina was going to play from behind, it was going to be very interesting. They hadn’t done it all year, and certainly not in the playoffs. Well, they couldn’t do it in the Super Bowl either, looking like a team that couldn’t find its way once the deck was stacked against them.
Overall, Manning went 13-23 for 141 yards and one interception. His one key mistake came on the sack-fumble, but it didn’t amount to much, only a field goal that closed the game to 16-10. That was as close as the game was late, as a C.J. Anderson touchdown put the game out of reach.
Was it his last game? We don’t know, but we will find out soon enough. But if it is, Peyton Manning walks off of the field a champion, along with his Broncos’ teammates.
The football gods smiled down upon the cagey veteran one last time, giving one more victory to savor. One more time, he tastes a championship. Congrats to Peyton Manning and the Broncos.