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All things Super Bowl 50 - Broncos vs. Panthers


'7'

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In one corner we have the Denver Broncos defense carrying on their shoulders the hollowed husk of what was Peyton Manning

In the other the Carolina Panthers with the potential new face of the NFL (Cam Newton) and a ferocious defense themselves though not a lot of eye popping star power top to bottom. Whoever thought Ted Ginn would feature so prominently on any team other than in a returner role?

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1 minute ago, '7' said:

In one corner we have the Denver Broncos defense carrying on their shoulders the hollowed husk of what was Peyton Manning

In the other the Carolina Panthers with the potential new face of the NFL (Cam Newton) and a ferocious defense themselves though not a lot of eye popping star power top to bottom. Whoever thought Ted Ginn would feature so prominently on any team other than in a returner role?

Cam Cameron for one :P

But yeah I don't see any shot for the Bronco offense to do anything.  The D's going to have to have an otherworldly game to give them a chance.

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57 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Cam Cameron for one :P

But yeah I don't see any shot for the Bronco offense to do anything.  The D's going to have to have an otherworldly game to give them a chance.

Ginn was a Jet killer and I loved him for it. But yeah, his problem was he couldn't play the Jets 16 times a year because he did jack sh!t against pretty much everyone else.

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Carolina is so clearly the best team in the NFL in the playoffs and is getting even better at just the right time.  Matchup reminds a little of 2007 Giants-Patriots...one team looked so dominant, the other kept finding ways to win, and it was the latter team than found a way to do it one more time.

Sometimes you get the sense that a team just feels like it's their year, and everyone better get the hell out of the way.  Carolina is clearly that kind of team right now...as much as it sucks for me not seeing the Pats get into the Super Bowl, I think the Panthers definitely would've handed them their lunch, to the tune of at least a 14-point win.   

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Something about the Panthers I don't love. They're great but they're a bit smug, a bit too full of themselves. Posing for pictures on the sidelines and Cam Newton with pretending he's Superman. I kinda want them to get a slice of humble pie...but I wouldn't really mind them winning either 

I love watching Denvers defense. Wish the Jets could get Demarcus Ware in the offseason as the edge rusher we haven't had since John Abraham (and yea he's old but still a force) But Denver's O...I just don't see them moving the ball well enough. And they'll be jumping routes on Manning all day. Those Broncos receivers are going to have to become Cirque du Soleil acrobats pulling down Mannings wobbly ducks.

26-10 Carolina

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10 hours ago, MadDog2020 said:

Ginn was a Jet killer and I loved him for it. But yeah, his problem was he couldn't play the Jets 16 times a year because he did jack sh!t against pretty much everyone else.

It's funny with Ginn that he turned out to be a lot better than the guy everyone wanted the Dolphins to take (Brady Quinn) although that's not saying very much. 

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I can see this one turning out almost as badly as Marino's last playoff game...not from a pure score standpoint of course (the Broncos are not losing by 55 points), but ugly and sad to watch.

I know Denver's D is very good, but the Panthers just seem determined to win big against any opponent who dares to take the field.  I think Carolina finds a way to score 30+.  And I think Denver's O is what it is...probably good for about 20 points or so and not making any costly mistakes (only one turnover so far in the playoffs).  Not many yards gained in either game by Denver's O, but as we know, sometimes it's just about maximizing opportunities.  I think Peyton & Co. are going to need to do a lot more in the Super Bowl. 

Anyway, though the QB tends to get the lion's share of the credit for SB wins (so much so that they are often judged against each other by how many SB victories they have), this one is really about the Denver D more than Peyton.  I've never been a fan of "QB vs QB" matchups (just like I never like the "Lundqvist vs Brodeur, look how Lundqvist dominated Brodeur!" rhetoric).  QBs don't face other QBs, they face DEFENSES.  And Denver's defense shut down the Patriot offense, just enough. 

The whole "Brady is 11-6 against Peyton" talk...what does that really mean, in the end?  I put Brady ahead of Peyton as the best of the era they both played in...not because of how Brady fared against Manning in head-to-head matchups, but because Manning wasn't really nearly as good or clutch in the playoffs for the balance of his career.  But regardless of what side of the Brady-Manning debate you fall on, it's sad to see this end.  It really was a treat to see BOTH of them play, for as long as they have, for as well has they have.  The fact that they're friends off the field is actually very cool...I can only imagine the conversations they have.    

Imagine if they ever decided "Hey, let's open up our own QB clinic..."  Damn.

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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First year in awhile where I'll be happy with whoever wins. An interesting storyline would be if Denver wins and Peyton plays well enough to win MVP (they'd give it to him if he's even remotely close), can you make the case he's better than TB12? His playoff record vs Brady is very impressive

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21 minutes ago, SMantzas said:

First year in awhile where I'll be happy with whoever wins. An interesting storyline would be if Denver wins and Peyton plays well enough to win MVP (they'd give it to him if he's even remotely close), can you make the case he's better than TB12? His playoff record vs Brady is very impressive

I say no, but it would definitely make it much closer (though it's already pretty close)...for the moment.  Brady still has chapters left to write in his book too...he's not showing any signs of slowing up. 

What would make this SB win great for Peyton's legacy is that some even ding him for his Super Bowl win because of who the opposing QB was...I've heard more than once "the only QB he beat in a Super Bowl was Rex Grossman!"  I've already talked about how flawed the "QB vs QB" head-to-head talk is (QBs face defenses, not QBs), but if Peyton manages to be nothing more simply efficient and mistake-free while his team wins a Super Bowl on the strength of his defense, just because of who the opposing QB is, Peyton will get a LOT more respect as a playoff/clutch QB than he currently does.  He's taken his fair share of abuse for the playoff follies (some were definitely on him, though not all), but if he leads his team to a Super Bowl upset against a team that seems to be destined, and leaves the game on that note, you'll hear far less about the many one-and-dones and the other knocks on him.  Amazing how one game can really change a legacy...but for Peyton, a win here will.   

Edited by Colorado Rockies 1976
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20 minutes ago, SMantzas said:

First year in awhile where I'll be happy with whoever wins. An interesting storyline would be if Denver wins and Peyton plays well enough to win MVP (they'd give it to him if he's even remotely close), can you make the case he's better than TB12? His playoff record vs Brady is very impressive

We've had this debate here before, but I already think Manning is the better QB, regardless of what happens next week.  When I compare QBs, I'll ask if you put both on the same team that has an average roster on both offense and defense and average coaching, etc., who's going to do better.  Or how bad is the same team going to be when you lose one or the other.   The first is purely theoretical, but the second test has occurred.  The Colts became the worst team in the league where the year before they were 10-6 and made the playoffs.  The Patriots were 11-5 with a very average Matt Cassell as the starting QB for basically the entire season.  That Pats team very well could have been 12-4, and then made the playoffs had it not been for the fact that they were the first team to have the Wildcat sprung on them. 

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On 1/28/2016 at 10:42 AM, Daniel said:

We've had this debate here before, but I already think Manning is the better QB, regardless of what happens next week.  When I compare QBs, I'll ask if you put both on the same team that has an average roster on both offense and defense and average coaching, etc., who's going to do better.  Or how bad is the same team going to be when you lose one or the other.   The first is purely theoretical, but the second test has occurred.  The Colts became the worst team in the league where the year before they were 10-6 and made the playoffs.  The Patriots were 11-5 with a very average Matt Cassell as the starting QB for basically the entire season.  That Pats team very well could have been 12-4, and then made the playoffs had it not been for the fact that they were the first team to have the Wildcat sprung on them. 

To be fair the Colts intentionally tanked on a 1984 Penguins level in order to be in position to draft Andrew Luck fully knowing in the previous Spring and Summer that the aging Manning's neck injury was much worse than was initially (mis)reported.  Brady's injury (although in Week 1) still occurred during the season after all of the preseason planning, training camp, etc. The Pats were already committed and could still compete for the Super Bowl with a diminished team that still possessed weapons and an aging but decent defense.  Plus even if the Pats did ponder tanking that season for the draft just look at how terrible the 2009 draft ended up becoming.

Manning's biggest regular season issues are that he played in a dome where his biggest years were spent in a division of warm weather/dome expansion teams and that his GM was the head of the NFL's Competition Committee and specifically taylored the 2000's passing/anti-defense rules for Manning.

 

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Wasn't really enamored with the game as a whole. Commercials stunk, it was a defensive struggle...sloppy at times with very few "holy sh!t!" amazing play moments.

Newton really handled himself terribly with the whining, and aloofness afterwards abruptly leaving the press conference.

Nice job by Denver. They saw what Seattle did to them a few years ago and they literally went out and became Seattle. Manning...in his current state...it probably the worst QB to win a Super Bowl since Trent Dilfer (Brad Johnson wasn't a bad QB, just middling. They pretty much went out there and won it with their defense alone. Von Miller was unstoppable and Demarcus Ware was in the backfield all day

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It's ironic Peyton's two wins really weren't memorable offensive games.  The most memorable play of the Colts-Bears game was Devin Hester on the opening kickoff.  The most memorable play tonight was the defensive TD early.

Cam not diving on that fumble was even worse than his postgame behavior.

And in other news Marshawn Lynch announced his retirement on Twitter, simply by posting a pair of hanging cleats :lol:

Edited by NJDevs4978
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Denver's D just got better and better.  Beastly and then some.

Cam got exposed as a chest-beating frontrunner, though he didn't get tons of help.  Postgame conference was a joke.  Looked and acted like a big baby and a side loser.  

Nice way for Peyton to go out, though he was damned near an obstacle in this game (and in these playoffs) that his teammates had to overcome.  To his credit, with damned near NOTHING left in the tank, he found a way to avoid disastrous mistakes.  Funny how the game works...it was two less impressive playoff runs for him that resulted in his walking away with a pair of rings.

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Another thing I would like to mention...with all the stuff floating around with concussions and other debilitating health issues, does the NFL really want 50 of it's legends hobbling out onto the field as if they're all 105 years old. I mean it was very sad watching some of these guys move. Heck Namath at 72 was among the best (and he had both knees replaced) Bradshaw couldn't move at all, Montana looked terrible...

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Another thing I would like to mention...with all the stuff floating around with concussions and other debilitating health issues, does the NFL really want 50 of it's legends hobbling out onto the field as if they're all 105 years old. I mean it was very sad watching some of these guys move. Heck Namath at 72 was among the best (and he had both knees replaced) Bradshaw couldn't move at all, Montana looked terrible...

We noticed that too at my party!  Lynn Swann looked terrific though.

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Another thing I would like to mention...with all the stuff floating around with concussions and other debilitating health issues, does the NFL really want 50 of it's legends hobbling out onto the field as if they're all 105 years old. I mean it was very sad watching some of these guys move. Heck Namath at 72 was among the best (and he had both knees replaced) Bradshaw couldn't move at all, Montana looked terrible...

Re Montana, I think he has heart issues.

And the other thing I'll say about concussions.... I'm not a doctor, but I have been involved in litigation involving med mal, products liability, and the like.  From what I can tell, most of the stuff that gets fed to the press about the concussions in sports seems to come from plaintiffs' attorneys and their paid experts.  That doesn't necessarily make what they're saying wrong, but I wish there was the same skepticism in the press when it comes to their claims that even approaches the level of skepticism you get for the claims that come from the defendants side.  And I am starting to get the sense that the effects of concussions are being exaggerated in the press, perhaps the best case in point being that if an ex-football player commits suicide, and there's evidence that that player had a concussion at some point in his career (virtually all NFL players have it would seem) it's just assumed from the outset that concussions were the cause. 

Edited by Daniel
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