The sentimental favorite to win Sunday’s Super Bowl were the Denver Broncos, not just for the love of the team but because of all the speculation about this being Peyton Manning’s last game.
Manning, who turns 40 in March and is considered one of football’s national treasures, is on the tail end of a stellar career. Sunday’s win, the 200th of his career, makes the five-time league MVP the only quarterback to win a Super Bowl with two different teams—the first being with the Indianapolis Colts in the 2006-2007 season, the team that drafted him.
“I don’t know if he’s done or not, but if he is, this is a great way to go out,” said Bronco’s linebacker and co-captain Demarcus Ware.
Manning’s last game could have potentially been the divisional playoffs against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the Broncos won 23-16. Or the AFC championship against the New England Patriots, but the Broncos won that too, narrowly, 20-18.
“I wanna go kiss my wife and my kids,” said Manning, side stepping the question about his retirement. “I’m gonna drink a lot of Budweiser tonight.”
Reflecting on the Broncos’ 24-10 Super Bowl victory over the Carolina Panthers and the ensuing trip to Disneyland, he added, “I’m going to take care of those things first, and definitely gonna say a little prayer, and thank the man upstairs for this opportunity. I’m definitely grateful.”
His stats for the day? Thirteen of 23 for 141 yards compared with Cam Newton’s 18 of 41 for 265. There were better numbers for the younger QB, but Carolina’s defense lacked the prowess and aggressiveness of Denver. There was no refuge for the 26-year-old Newton in the pocket. He was pressured more than 20 times throughout the game, with Denver forcing four turnovers and seven sacks, with four sacks just in the first half.
There was no dabbing for Newton and no game balls being given away to young Carolina fans. The defensive play of game MVP Von Miller alone forced Newton into throwing high, off target, errant passes. Miller was responsible for two forced fumbles.
“The grind of the game wore [Newton] down,” said Ware, who was credited with two of those sacks—one closing out the second quarter just before Coldplay, Bruno Mars and Beyonce, the halftime entertainment, took the stage. Carolina couldn’t even capitalize on major penalty opportunities early on or several of Denver’s stagnant, second half run plays.
“They played better than us,” said Newton. “They made more plays than us. We lost.”
