The final game of the year. Can you believe it? We have to wait a whole seven months for meaningful football to return, and it’s the most depressing thought there is.
But we still have this one glorious day, one of the greatest holidays of the year, ahead of us. Super Bowl Sunday! And one hell of a matchup awaits, especially if you like hard-hitting, smashmouth football.
This week, you get 10 points for a correct pick and 20 points for a correct upset. This one’s for all the marbles!
SUPER BOWL 50 – Sunday at 6:30 P.M. ET – Carolina Panthers (17-1) vs. Denver Broncos (14-4), CAR by 6 – This Denver team was never supposed to make it here. Not with Peyton Manning at quarterback, a year in which he’s looked mostly awful. Not with receivers that haven’t been able to catch balls all year. Not with a disappointing running game. But this historically good defense has dragged the team here kicking and screaming, and now they have a date with the team that has all year long been the best in football.
The Panthers have had absolutely no right being as good as they are. On paper, there were so many question marks and holes on their roster heading into the season. But great coaching, fiery team leadership on both sides of the ball, several DPOY candidates and MVP-caliber play by Cam Newton have more than been enough to make the Panthers potentially one of the great NFL championship teams in history.
The matchup to watch is obviously going to be the Panthers’ offense vs. the Broncos’ defense. That’s the money maker. But the matchup that decides the game could very well be the Broncos’ offense vs. the Panthers’ defense. We know the Broncos are capable of slowing down anybody with their defense. The question is, can the offense do enough to give the team a chance of winning.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cam Newton look very human in the Super Bowl. But I think the Panthers are just too strong for the Broncos to get the victory.
Panthers 20, Broncos 17
