Super Bowl 50 won’t go down as a classic like many recent championship games, but to those who appreciate “old school” defensive battles, it was a beautiful thing. The way Denver’s top-ranked defense shut down Carolina’s highest scoring offense 24–10 was another example of defense triumphing over offense.
Denver’s defense gave Peyton Manning his much-deserved “Hollywood ending.”
The underdog Broncos sacked Panthers’ quarterback and NFL MVP Cam Newton seven times, tying a Super Bowl record. Newton had his worst game of the season; the last time he had a lower pass completion percentage was in October 2014.
In the biggest play of the game, Super Bowl MVP Von Miller stripped Newton of the ball and teammate Malik Jackson recovered the fumble for a touchdown. That gave the Broncos a 10–0 first-quarter lead and they never looked back.
Newton and Miller were drafted No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in 2011, but the second pick got the last laugh on Sunday in the Bay Area.
