Super Bowl 2016 prediction: Carolina vs Denver - Can the purring Panthers finish the job?

Ken Elliott5 February 2016

There are two teams left standing from the 32 that started out on the road to the NFL’s Super Bowl 50. The No1 seeds from the NFC, the Carolina Panthers, face off against the top seed from the AFC, the Denver Broncos, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday night.

The game is a match-up of the League’s top offense in Carolina (500 points, 31.3 points per game) against the League’s top defense in Denver (283.1 total net yards per game). Denver reached the big show by defeating New England 20-18 and Carolina defeated Arizona 49-15 to earn its second ever Super Bowl.

They lost the first 32-29 to the New England Patriots in 2004 whereas the Broncos are in their eighth trip to the big game having lost five (to Dallas in 1978, the New York Giants in 1987, Washington in 1988, San Francisco in 1990 and Seattle in 2014) and won two in their history (against Green Bay in 1998 and Atlanta in 1999). That 2014 loss to Seattle will still be fresh in the franchise’s mind . . . it wasn’t so much a defeat as a walkover, with Denver second best throughout in losing 43-8.

Will that still be too fresh a wound or will it have healed and formed a motivation?

Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, the 39-year-old veteran, has now guided both the Indianapolis Colts and the Broncos to Super Bowls .His Broncos this season have a 14-4 combined regular season/play-off record.

Where to watch the Super Bowl in London

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“I’ve tried to take it one week at a time all season long,” says Manning about returning to the Super Bowl after winning with the Colts and losing that 43-8 horror show in New Jersey with Denver..

“I’ve tried to stay in the moment and take it one week at a time. I’m taking it one week at a time and trying to stay patient. Staying patient in these past two play-off games has served our team well and it’s definitely served me well.” Manning, who won a Super Bowl ring with the Colts in 2007 when they beat Chicago 29-17, can become the first starting quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises.

Denver’s defense, which lead the NFL with 52 sacks during the regular season, had four sacks and two interceptions in the AFC Championship Game. Linebacker Von Miller had 2.5 sacks and an interception in the victory over New England. “We’re back,” said Miller, on the team’s second Super Bowl appearance in the past three seasons. “It feels great. I wanted to get back here.”

The Panthers were almost perfect, losing just the one regular season game, to Atlanta in the penultimate week, for their record of 17-1 including their play-off wins. They were perfect at home, winning all eight regular-season games and both play-off ties.

Carolina led the NFL in scoring with 500 points during the regular season and their 80 points in the post-season is a League best and 26-year-old quarterback Cam Newton . . . surely the man who will be named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for this season tomorrow night, on the eve of Super Bowl 50 . . . said this week: “We came out and had a pretty successful game. But I know there are a lot of people who feel just like me – we’re not done yet.”

And center Ryan Kalil added: “It’s been fun watching Cam because every year he’s improved. We knew from the get-go when he got here and broke all those NFL rookie records that we had someone special.” Newton passed for 335 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for two scores . . . he does it for fun . . . in the NFC Championship game and he is the first player in NFL history to pass for at least 300 yards and rush for a couple of touchdowns in a play-off game. Newton led the NFL during the regular season with 45 touchdowns, that’s 35 passing and 10 rushing, and became the first player in League history to pass for at least 30 touchdowns and rush for at least 10 touchdowns in the same season. Ron Rivera, the Carolina head coach, has steered his team to the play-offs in each of the past three seasons and is aiming to become the fourth person to win a Super Bowl as both a player and a head coach. Rivera was a linebacker with the 1985 Chicago Bears. He’s respectful and cautious: “We have talked a lot about what our goal is. We are a step away. We are going to have to play a very good football team. They have a Hall of Fame quarterback and a lot of playmakers. This is a team we will have to get ready for and prepare for.”

A little bit of history is in Denver’s favour. When they faced the Packers in the 1998 Super Bowl, Green Bay were strong favourites having won the trophy the year before, but veteran quarterback John Elway of the Broncos played an amazing game to upset the odds and help produce a shock 31-24 win. Just maybe, Manning can reproduce that spirit.

But as momentum, consistency and a relatively injury-free season is with the Panthers, it will still be their game.

THE VERDICT

NOT QUITE PURR-FECT BUT PURRING PANTHERS FINISH THE JOB AT 18-1

All to play for then, but what about those playing to all in Santa Clara and a massive worldwide audience? Lady Gaga will sing the American national anthem before the game but it’s doubtful she’ll be fazed by the fact that last year’s Super Bowl was watched by 118.5 million viewers. The Pepsi Super Bowl half-time show features Coldplay, Beyonce and Bruno Mars.

On TV in the UK: Super Bowl 50 live on BBC Two from 10.50 pm and Sky Sports 1 and 3 from 10pm.

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