Why will the Carolina Panthers win the Super Bowl?
Two years ago, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos came onto the field to warm up at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey for Super Bowl XLVIII. Peyton Manning, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time, was favored to win by two points. After leading the number one offense in the league to a 13-3 record in the regular season and the number one seed in the AFC to receive a first round bye, they beat the San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots to advance to the Super Bowl. On the other end of the field, warming up, were the Seattle Seahawks. Pete Carroll and Paul Allen, the head coach and the owner, had been constructing their roster for a playoff run ever since Pete Carroll was hired, with the intimidating defense, specifically the Legion of Boom, which was their secondary. On the very first, the Broncos almost turned the ball over and it resulted in a safety. Nevertheless, as always or as history suggested, Peyton Manning choked. They lost the game 43-8. After this game, the Broncos were called soft and not aggressive enough.
Now again, two years later, 39-year-old Peyton Manning will walk onto the field to try to win his second ring in four tries. This is not the same Peyton Manning from two years ago. In 2013, he threw for 55 touchdowns and only ten interceptions. His 55 touchdowns were a franchise record for touchdowns in a season. It was one of the best season-long performances we have ever seen. Fast forward to this season and Peyton has thrown only nine touchdowns and a disturbing 17 interceptions. Although he can blame his worst season on lingering injury issues, this Peyton Manning is due for another Super Bowl loss. One might ask why, and there’s a simple answer. The Carolina Panthers are the opposing team.
The momentum that this team has can be compared to Seattle’s during its Super Bowl run, but probably scarier. The Panthers’ defense have arguably one of the best secondaries in history, which is lead by Josh Norman. In addition, they have the league’s best linebacker in Luke Kuechly. On top of this, they have a great defensive line. Overall, this defense has the potential to be better than the Legion of Boom. But the Broncos’ defense is the #1 defense in the league, they have an outstanding secondary and know how to put pressure on the opposing quarterback. They pressured Tom Brady during the AFC championship over 30 times, and hit him over 20 times. Therefore, with this being stated, I don’t believe that this game will be a shootout (high scoring game).
The reason I have the Panthers slightly edged over the Broncos is because of Cam Newton. Cam Newton has proved to many analysts that he’s not a “running back that plays quarterback” but an actual elite quarterback. Cam Newton is 6’5" and weighs over 250 pounds. Throughout his career, many people have said that he’s immature and doesn’t portray himself as a true professional quarterback. And in an recent interview, he says the reason he draws so much criticism is because he’s “an African-American Quarterback that may scare a lot of people, because they haven’t seen anything like him before.” He then goes on to say he hasn’t changed, and does what he wants, when he wants. What he is basically saying is that he has not assimilated into what people want him to be. And he has essentially embraced who he is, and he has no plans on conforming. The criticism is rooted from his cockiness, or confidence in himself. He has celebrated on every first down by “dabbing”, which is dance that began in Atlanta. And every time he scores, he then does a celebration and proceed to give the football to a child in the stands.
But does he have the right to be this cocky? The answer is an absolute yes. He has already accomplished a lot in his early career. He has a JUCO- football championship, NCAA Football Championship and also the Heisman trophy. He will probably win the league’s MVP this year, and if he doesn’t, many people will be confused. He has a total of 45 touchdowns (35 passing + 10 rushing) this year. He is the face of this Carolina Panther franchise and is practically unstoppable. During the playoffs, he has scored over 30 points in each game, easily. The fact that he is a dual-threat quarterback will cause the Broncos problems, in addition to the Broncos not putting up enough points to win this game. The Panthers probably won’t blow the Broncos out, but you can expect to see Cam still smiling and dancing throughout the game as they win the game.
Prediction:
Panthers, 30
Broncos, 20