Super Bowl 50: Final Thoughts

Super Bowl 50 is tonight and, one way or another, we’ll be in for a wild ride.

Now that Super Bowl Sunday is upon us and Super Bowl 50 is this evening, most of the country will come together and celebrate the game between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos.

Cam Newton is playing in his first Super Bowl and Peyton Manning is playing in his fourth — and experience may come in handy, but not in the usual way.

Manning hasn’t had the best season of his career by any means, and the deeper the Broncos went in the playoffs, the more it became evident that Denver was doing good in spite of Manning’s poor play at quarterback instead of him being the reason for their run.

Aqib Talib and Von Miller will have to be at their best to carry the Broncos on the defensive end, with their case helped, of course, by the kind of presence is found in DeMarcus Ware.

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For Carolina, Cam Newton has finally broken through and found a way to take his game to the next level — especially considering that he was just named league MVP before the big game.

Newton’s recognition was taken in different stride by the former-Auburn Tigers quarterback than player prior, and that’s just fine — it’s just Cam.

Offensively speaking, the Panthers have produced all season without top wide out Kelvin Benjamin, whom they lost in the pre-season.

Instead, guys like Ted Ginn, Jr. have stepped up to the plate. Since then, it’s safe to say that Newton has gotten more from the guys at his disposal this season than even he probably anticipated.

On defense, guys like Jared Allen and Thomas Davis will be in the game following serious injuries.

Denver might find this detail in their favor early on, but what they’ll have to watch out for is any little spark for Carolina to feed off of.

Things like a pick-six, big stop on third down in Denver territory, or a fumble — or, dare I say it, a safety — could give the Panthers an emotional high that the Broncos simply can’t match.

And from that point, it’s all downhill.

Denver faced a similar situation two years ago in Super Bowl XLVIII against the Seattle Seahawks.

Despite the hype, the game started on a miscue from Manning that soared the ball into their own end zone for a safety, giving the Seahawks an almost-immediate 2-0 advantage.

From there, Seattle never forgave and never looked back, going on to stomp the Broncos in a 43-8 rout — Manning and company can only hope that this time history won’t repeat itself.

Either way the game unfolds, we’ll see a legacy come to pass.

On one hand, we’ll see a young, doubted quarterback in Cam Newton claim his first crown; on the other, we’ll see one of the game’s greatest get the chance to go out on top.

It’ll be all about matching blows from the other team if this game is going to live up to the hype, but these teams were their conference’s top seeds, respectively, for a reason.

Prediction: