The Denver Broncos finished the season at 12-4, which was good enough to finish in first place in not only the AFC West, but int the whole AFC. Once the playoffs started, Denver beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-16 in divisional playoffs and followed that up by beating the New England Patriots 20-18 in AFC Championship Game. Denver is now 23-19 lifetime in post season play. This marks the 8th time that Denver has played in the big dance, but they are 2-5, with their wins coming in 1998 (Superbowl 32 over Green Bay) and 1999 (Superbowl 33 beating Atlanta).
As for the Carolina Panthers, they come in having finished the regular season at 15-1, which was not only good enough for first place in the NFC South but first place in the NFC and the best record in football. Once the playoffs got started, Carolina beat the Seattle Seahawks 31-24 in divisional playoffs, and followed that up by beating the Arizona Cardinals 49-15 in NFC Championship Game. Carolina is now 11-6 lifetime in the post season. This marks the second time ever that Carolina has played in a Superbowl, as they lost Superbowl 38 to the New England Patriots. This will mark the first ever meeting between the teams in the playoffs and they did not face eachother during the regular season.
Now lets break down what's going to go down on Sunday.
If you're the Denver Broncos, to be more specific the Denver Defense, you're going to have a challenge ahead of you bigtime. You haven't faced an offense, or a Quarterback, like this so far. I'll give Denver credit where it's due, they have beaten the likes of Joe Flacco, Teddy Bridgewater, Matthew Stafford, Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler to go with two wins over Philip Rivers and two wins over Tom Brady, including in the AFC Championship Game. Cam Newton, however, plays a different style of game, he's way more mobile than any of the other QB's that Denver have faced this year. He can create more plays and expand the play with use of his legs.
Denver has had the best defense in the NFL all season long, you can't deny that. Quarterbacks have avoided throwing to receivers shadowed by Chris Harris Jr. or Aqib Talib, both of whom are Pro Bowl selections. So it makes the pass game a little tough. But again, its dealing with a guy like Cam Newton who's quite mobile, that is going to make this matchup tougher. They have to try everything in their power to be able to contain him. To their credit, Denver has beaten five teams that made this year's playoff field. The Panthers beat just three but none since Nov. 8. Also, the Panthers allowed one 100-yard rusher (Jamaal Charles in Week 2). The Broncos surrendered a league-low 3.3 yards per rushing attempt. So its something to pay attention to, especially with Jonathan Stewart having a big impact like he has the last couple of games.
Carolina isn't a slouch on defense either. They've had the 6th best defense during the regular season, so they can hang with the best of them. Look at the last two weeks of play. The Panthers forced seven in the NFC Championship Game and two in the divisional round. Luke Kuechly had an interception returned for a touchdown in each of those games. He's not a member of what the secondary calls "Thieves Avenue," but he should be. So don't sleep on this defense.
For good reason, the offense has been what's been getting talked about most coming out of Carolina. The Broncos haven't faced a running quarterback like Newton all season. Newton had 10 rushing touchdowns during the regular season and two more in the NFC Championship Game. He won't be fazed by the league's best defense. He helped put up 31 points on Seattle's second-ranked defense in the first half of the divisional playoff game. He led Carolina to a rout of Arizona, which had the league's 5th ranked defense, in the NFC title game. With the way the offensive line and receivers are playing around Newton, he is almost impossible to stop.
Picks
Solly: Carolina 27 Denver 17
Steve: Denver 24 Carolina 20
Danny: Carolina 34 Denver 10
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