I’ll admit it.
At the start of the 2024 regular season I was extremely low on the Carolina Panthers, although I think I had enough reasons to be.
For one thing, their number one wide receiver, Kelvin Benjamin was sidelined to miss the entire year with an ACL injury. To me that was the biggest point of concern. Carolina’s receiving core was easily their weakest part of the team, and without Kelvin Benjamin it seemed worse than it already was. Along with that, there were still questions lingering in Carolina if Cam Newton was ready to take the next big step from mediocre QB, to average QB, to great QB. We all know how his transformation went now.
You could say the same thing for the Denver Broncos. There was a lot of concern in the aging Peyton Manning , and whether or not this season would be his last. Would Peyton be able to be half the quarterback he used to be? All questions people asked each other.
Concerns were also flying high about the Denver defense. Is this defense good enough to get the Broncos back in the big game? I guess we now know the answer to that too.
When the season started I foolishly had the Carolina Panthers going 7-9, and skipping out on the postseason. Brutal call.
The Panthers have proved myself and countless others wrong this season, with a more than impressive regular season record of 15-1. Cam Newton has, razzled, dazzled, and done just about everything else imaginable to earn the title “2024 Most Valuable Player.” There’s not a better Quarter-running back in the league. He’s a double threat Quarterback who can throw the ball terrifically, but also scramble and make plays on the ground when he needs to. No one else deserved MVP more than Cam did this season. It was just his year.
As for the Broncos, I was a little bullish on them as well. I picked them to get to the playoffs, but never did I think we’d be seeing Peyton Manning in one final Super Bowl. I think I speak for Peyton himself when I say he’s been extremely fortunate to have the defense he’s had this season. Even after the embarrassingly bad season he’s had, Peyton Manning still gets one more final shot at going out on top.
Talk about a total punch in the gut of a Super Bowl for me though. I mean in one corner you got the spunky, young, golden boy in Cam Newton, and his Carolina Panthers. I’ve doubted Carolina all year long, and now they’re in the big game about to prove me wrong. In the other side of the ring there’s the Denver Broncos, aka the team that just beat my New England Patriots last month. In a way it’s a lose/lose for me. If Carolina wins I get to hear all the Panthers fans (my brother) brag how they won, and how I doubted the all mighty Cameron Newton, and if the Broncos win I’ll be hearing the “Petyon’s better than Brady, he’s the GOAT!” chants all over again. Last time I checked, 4 rings was better than 2, but we’ll save that for another day.
Seriously though, if the Panthers do win, their REAL, LOYAL, and TRUE fans deserve to gloat about the Championship, seeing as it’d be their first ever. And if Denver wins,congrats to Peyton. He’s had a long career and deserves to retire on top, and congrats to the rest of the team as well.
Even though I’d much rather watch Tom Brady duke it out in another big game this year, I know he’ll have a few more chances down the road, and it should be fun to see what Peyton can do. And even if I say this Super Bowl matchup isn’t the greatest, I know damn well how excited I’ll be once that ball gets kicked off. It’s the Super Bowl for crying out loud! Not loving the Super Bowl is like not loving America, or Coca Cola, or The Beatles. In a way, you have to love it. The Super Bowl is easily one of the greatest days of the year if you spend it with the three F’s … Family, Food, and Football. And sometimes, that’s all you really ever need.
My Super Bowl 50 prediction :
If great defense’s win championships then what do good defenses win?
Both teams have stellar defenses in this game, and that could very well be the difference maker here. All week long my gut feeling said go with the Panthers. And why not? They’ve been the league’s best team for a large majority of the season, have had one of the league’s best players, along with an exceptional defense. They had two great post season victories against two very impressive teams in Seattle and Arizona, but did their success run out? I mean they did lose to the 8-8 Atlanta Falcons… but then again, their only loss was against the 8-8 Atlanta Falcons. Here’s how I think the game goes.
Game starts off fairly close, I think Denver’s defense puts a mark on the game early, and an impressive start from Peyton and the offense as well. I expect Denver to be up at the end of the first, but Carolina’ll figure something out and pull it together as the first quarter winds down. First score of the game, a CJ Anderson end zone dash. End of the First Quarter, Denver leads 10-3.
Next quarter’s a totally different story. Here’s where I expect Cam Newton to figure everything out. No MVP has won a Super Bowl ever, but hey, history’s gotta change at some point. Two big drives in the second quarter from Carolina here, more specifically a Cam Newton run, and an end zone catch by Greg Olsen . They’ll take the lead before half. 17-13, Panthers.
After seeing a star studded Halftime Performance show, the third quarter will go how the defenses goes. Denver knows their defense has to step it up, as does Carolina’s, so I expect a blanked out third quarter. Expect a lot of quarterback hits, a few turnovers, but oddly enough, no scoring. After three, the score’s still 17-13.
Throughout most of the fourth quarter I expect both defenses to continue playing terrific, which is why the only second half points scored will come within the final five minutes of the fourth. The world will watch and wait to see if Peyton Manning has one final drive in him, and I think he does. Peyton gives it all he has left and marches the Broncos down the field, more specifically an end zone snag to DeMaryius Thomas, Denver leads with about two minutes to go, 20-17. With time running out Cam gets the job done against Denver’s defense, Graham Gano ties the game, and for the first time in Super Bowl History, we’re going to Overtime.
In O.T, I again think both teams turn the defense knob to twelve.
Both touch the ball, both don’t score. My final pick is that in a year where kicking field goals has been so crucial, the season ends in a field goal.
In the end it’s the Carolina Panthers who prevail, capturing their first Super Bowl title ever, sending Peyton and the Denver Broncos packing.
Super Bowl 50 ends in a classic, overtime, thriller. Carolina wins it by an OT kick, 23-20. Cam finishes the game as Super Bowl MVP, party’s on for Carolina.
To see more of my predictions for the big game, hit this link and check out my : 50 WACKY, BOLD, and Crazy predictions for Super Bowl 50
Overall it should be a great game, and I’m looking forward to seeing who comes out on top.