Super Bowl 50: Here’s How the Panthers Will Beat the Broncos

CreditCreditDavid J. Phillip/Associated Press

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — On the eve of Super Bowl 50, it feels as if we know a great deal about the Panthers and the Broncos, that is largely because they were so remarkably consistent this season.

The script was nearly the same each week: Carolina would dominate an opponent in the first half before coasting in the second and making the final result more thrilling than perhaps it needed to be; Denver’s offense would fail to inspire confidence, and the defense would have to work twice as hard to make up for the turnovers and inability to score.

But the teams ended up winning a combined 31 of their 36 games, including the playoffs. So a season spent looking for fatal flaws might have been better spent appreciating what each did well.

When Carolina Has the Ball

Panthers Coach Ron Rivera acknowledged Thursday that the notion of limiting quarterback Cam Newton’s running to protect his body has gone out the window with a Super Bowl ring on the line.

“It’s situational football now, from here on out,” Rivera said. “It’s no holds barred. There really is no next game.”

The prospect of Newton fully unleashed is why Wade Phillips, the defensive coordinator for the Broncos, called him a nightmare. There have been plenty of quarterbacks who can run, but nearly all of them relied on letting an opening present itself as a play broke down and then using superior speed to exploit the situation. Newton is a wrecking ball, just as likely to run between the tackles as to outrun a linebacker on the edge.

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“I don’t think that the challenge of getting to Cam Newton is the deal,” said DeMarcus Ware, the Broncos’ four-time All-Pro linebacker. “It’s taking him down.”

Even if Denver does succeed at containing Newton as a runner, it will have to contend with his passing. He has become something of a magician in turning discarded receivers into his own personal treasure.

After Kelvin Benjamin was lost for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Ted Ginn Jr., a perennial bust, became Newton’s first option. Newton found ways to use the strengths of Ginn, Corey Brown, Devin Funchess and Jerricho Cotchery to make enough plays to create opportunities for the running game. And Ginn, finally with a team committed to finding a use for his game-changing speed, developed into a touchdown machine, scoring 10 times in the regular season and once on a running play in the N.F.C. championship game.

“We understood that we were a whole bunch of misfits and different things like that,” Ginn said. “ ‘We don’t have a receiving corps’ — yeah, we heard it. But we knew what we had in the room, and collectively we came together as a group to make it work.”

Helping matters considerably are a star-studded offensive line that gives Newton plenty of time to make decisions; a top tight end in Greg Olsen, who always finds a way to get open; and a running game that after years of an awkward platoon between DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart finally thrived with Stewart as an every-down back.

As good as the Panthers are, though, Denver’s defense, reshaped as a 3-4 monster under Phillips, is seemingly built to contend with any offense. The stellar pass-rush tandem of Von Miller and Ware get most of the headlines, but the defense essentially does not have a weakness. The three-man front of Derek Wolfe, Sylvester Williams and Malik Jackson does the dirty work to get Miller and Ware their openings, and the secondary is so strong that opposing quarterbacks, already under pressure, find few options downfield.

In the A.F.C. championship game, Phillips had just three defenders rushing for most of the game, yet the Broncos embarrassed New England to the point that the Patriots fired their offensive line coach less than 24 hours after the game. Against a top-flight offensive line like Carolina’s, a similar strategy would seemingly not work, but the wily Phillips is very likely to have something up his sleeve.

When Denver Has the Ball

There is no sugarcoating the fact that Peyton Manning was not himself this season. He has not had much zip on his passes in several years, but for the first time, his accuracy also declined. After each of his devastating interceptions, he seemed like a player confused over how his body had betrayed him. The fans’ chorus of “He should have retired” became deafening.

In what turned out to be a fortunate turn, a long absence prompted by a variety of injuries allowed Manning time not only to heal, but also to realign his expectations of what he should be accomplishing to help his team win. To say that Manning could learn anything from his backup Brock Osweiler may sound odd, but watching Osweiler win game after game by simply limiting his mistakes and finding a few openings was very likely reassuring for a player who will never regain the physical skills that previously made him so great.

Still, the lack of accuracy and strength on Manning’s throws is a concern because the secondary can adjust its coverage while the ball is in flight. Manning’s second touchdown pass to tight end Owen Daniels in the victory against New England seemed to wobble endlessly before finding Daniels in the end zone. A similar play being defended by Josh Norman, or even Luke Kuechly, a linebacker who has two interception returns for touchdowns in the playoffs, would just as likely result in Manning’s having to try out his tackling skills rather than celebrating a score.

It’s perplexing that the Broncos never developed a better running game. Early in the season, it was common knowledge that Coach Gary Kubiak was going to de-emphasize the pass in favor of grinding games out behind running backs C. J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman. While the two had their moments, Denver finished the season ranked 17th in rushing yards per game and tied for 12th in rushing touchdowns.

The Broncos will be trying to score against a defense that has far more to do with the Panthers’ stellar record than it is often given credit for, even if there are some concerns going into Sunday. It is hard to know what to expect out of linebacker Thomas Davis, who is playing despite having recently had surgery on a broken arm sustained in the N.F.C. championship game, and Carolina’s depth behind Norman at cornerback is questionable at best. But with Manning facing the prospect of getting the ball out quickly or having all 315 pounds of Carolina’s top defensive tackle, Kawann Short, leveling him 10 yards behind scrimmage, the weaker members of the secondary should not have to hold tight for long.

Who Will Win?

There are obvious reasons that Carolina enters the game as a pronounced favorite. It has the N.F.L.’s top-scoring offense and a defense with few notable flaws. Denver, meanwhile, has a quarterback who cannot throw the way he used to and a running game that does not do all that much running.

The thought of Manning going out as a winner, as his boss John Elway did in another era for the Broncos, is appealing, and there is every reason to believe that Phillips can cook up a defensive plan that keeps things close enough to make it interesting. But the N.F.L. does not run on sentiment, and Newton’s rise toward becoming the face of the N.F.L. should finally be complete.


A version of this article appears in print on , Section SP, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Panthers’ Dynamic Force Should Dislodge Broncos. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe