By Evan Norris, Staff Writer — The Super Bowl is fast approaching, so get your jerseys on, your parties ready, and kick back relax. This year’s Super Bowl is very significant in the way that it is the 50th Super Bowl ever played. This year’s super bowl consists of the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. The game is scheduled to be played on Feb. 7 in San Francisco at 6:30 p.m
This year’s Super Bowl is gearing up to be a very exciting one, as the future hall of famer Peyton Manning gets ready to play in his third super bowl of all time. This is the complete opposite of Panther’s quarterback Cam Newton, who is playing in his first Super Bowl ever. Although it may be Newton’s first super bowl, he sure has not seemed to be nervous throughout their playoff run. Manning who is rumored to be playing his last NFL game is full of experience heading into this game. This being Manning’s 18th season, he is looking to win his second Super Bowl ever, the first one being in 2006-07 when his Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.
Both teams did fantastic during the regular season which will make the Super Bowl very enjoyable to watch. The Denver Broncos finished the regular Season with a record of 12-4 including two big wins over, AFC East champion New England Patriots and AFC North champions Cincinnati Bengals. The Carolina Panthers also had a phenomenal year, by not only winning the NFC, but also finishing with a record of 15-1 which was the best record in the whole league.
Not only did Carolina show their dominance in the regular season, but we also saw it in the playoffs. The Panthers received a bye for the first week of the NFL playoffs. Carolina then had to play the Seattle Seahawks in week two which ended in the Panther winning the game 31-24. They then had to face the second seed in the NFC which was the Arizona Cardinals. The winner of this game advanced to the Super Bowl, the Panthers played outstanding against the second seeded Cardinals, resulting in a 49-15 victory.
The Denver Broncos also showed football fans across the nation that they were in it to win it. The Broncos also received a first round bye in the playoffs because of their tremendous performance in the regular season. Second week of the AFC playoffs posed a challenge for the Broncos as they faced the sixth seeded Pittsburgh Steelers who played good football during the regular season and leading into the playoffs. Coming off momentum because of their victory against the Bengals the Steelers looked to seek revenge on the Broncos from their last playoff meeting. The game was balanced until a fumble in the fourth quarter gave the Denver Broncos the ball which ultimately lead to the Broncos scoring on the next drive which allowed them to beat the Steelers 23-16. The Broncos then faced the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship a game that was heavily wanted because of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady rivalry. In this game the Broncos took the lead and never looked back eventually becoming AFC champions and leading them to the Super Bowl.
Both of these teams have strengths that make them such great teams, the Carolina Panthers have so much momentum and confidence that no team can beat them right now. The Panthers possess something that not a lot of football teams have and that is speed on both sides of the ball. Coming into the Super Bowl, the Panthers defense is looking ridiculous, with the help of their linebackers such as Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis who will be playing with a broken arm, other than that they look very dominant. The Broncos have also possessed a similar talent this year, and that is coming from the defensive side as well. If it wasn’t for Demarcus Ware, Von Miller, and the rest of their defense the Broncos would not be in the Super Bowl. The Panthers also show their dominance on offense as well with the help of Cam Newton, Jonathan Stewart, and their amazing receiving core.
Both the teams playing this year are very talented in their own ways which makes the Super Bowl enjoying to watch, but there is not a doubt in my mind that the panthers lose, they are running on too much confidence and momentum and I do not think they can be stopped. I think the final score of this game will be 35- 14 with Cam Newton winning the MVP of the Super Bowl. There’s not a doubt in my head that thinks the 50th Super Bowl will be one that is forgotten.
[Updated Aug. 19, 2017: This article has been reformatted for consistency.]
