Super Bowl 50 Prediction

Conference Championship Picks: 1-1 (Correct: Panthers Incorrect: Patriots)
Overall Playoff Record: 6-4

Carolina Panthers over Denver Broncos: For the second time in three years, the top-ranked scoring offense (Panthers) will be facing off against the top-ranked scoring defense (Broncos) in the Super Bowl. Fans and media members across the country seem to think the Broncos- who were involved in the last Super Bowl clash between the top-ranked offense and defense- are going to get manhandled like they did against the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII. While I think that the Panthers will come out on top, I think the people that are predicting them to win by 30+ points are out of their goddamn minds. This might be hard for some people to grasp, but this isn't the same Broncos team that lost 43-8 to the Seahawks two years ago. The 2013 Broncos defense was vastly inferior to the current incarnation and star outside linebacker Von Miller missed Super Bowl XLVIII with a torn ACL. If the Broncos defense surrenders 40+ points and/or loses by four or more touchdowns with a healthy Miller, Chris Harris Jr, DeMarcus Ware and Brandon Marshall in the lineup, everything I thought I knew about the game of football was wrong.

What Super Bowl 50 is going to come down to is how well the Broncos defense can contain Cam Newton and if Peyton Manning has enough juice left in the tank to string together one last excellent performance before he retires. The Broncos proved two weeks ago against the Patriots that their defense can give elite offenses fits, but this field-stretching, unpredictable Panthers squad presents an entirely different set of challenges. The Panthers formidable rushing and efficient passing attack gives them one of the most balanced offenses in the league and Newton's ability to escape the pocket and makes plays with his legs makes him a tough matchup for any defense. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips did a spectacular job coming up with creative, varied schemes to stop Tom Brady and the Patriots from getting into a comfortable rhythm and there's no doubt he'll need to have a lot of tricks up his sleeve to contain the Panthers lethal, multi-faceted offense.

As for Manning, he's surprised a lot of people (myself included) with his respectable playoff performances in the Broncos first two playoff games. Manning has accepted his physical limitations and embraced his new role as a game-manager, making mostly low-risk, short-to-medium throws and not hurting the team with costly turnovers. The problem is that while Manning has been decent over the past two games, decent isn't going to be enough to produce multiple scoring drives against the Panthers tough defense. The Panthers manhandled a far-superior Cardinals offense in the NFC Championship game two weeks ago, allowing just 15 points and manufacturing six takeaways and given the Broncos middling offensive production with Manning at the helm this season, it's hard to envision a situation where the Broncos put up more than 17-21 points. While a strong performance from Manning would certainly increase the chances of the Broncos coming in and pulling off the upset, the success or failure of the Broncos offense could very well lie on the shoulders of their erratic running back tandem of C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman. The Panthers rush defense has been a bit vulnerable of late and if Anderson and/or Hillman can get going, this offense could end up overachieving. The Broncos have a championship-caliber that is capable of taking over games and are going to be hellbent on helping Manning end his career on the highest possible note, but I believe the Panthers collective offensive and defensive prowess will ultimately be enough to earn them their first Super Bowl championship in franchise history.