Super Bowl 50 is here, the moment that we have been waiting for since the Thursday night back in September when the Pittsburgh Steelers played the New England Patriots in Foxboro, MA. It’s not surprising that the Denver Broncos are representing the AFC in the Super Bowl. But most fans didn’t have the 15-1 Carolina Panthers, the same team that went 7-8-1 in 2014, representing the NFC in football’s biggest game. But after Cam Newton and company took care of business against the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals in the postseason Ron Rivera’s team proved they deserved to play for the Lombardi Trophy. The Broncos are led by quarterback Peyton Manning, who at just a shell of his former self, is pretty much a game manager at this point.. But even though Manning is still under center for the Broncos, this team now relies on a heavy hitting defense that gave Tom Brady all sorts of fits during the AFC Championship. These two teams will now be facing off for the grand prize of the NFL, the Lombardi trophy.
Throughout the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl there will be all sorts of analysis by various writers who will offer their opinion on who they believe will win. Many in the media will also offer their perspective on the different story lines leading up to the big game. I figured I might as well offer my own take on how I think the Super Bowl will play out. Now sit back, relax and hopefully enjoy my article about the Super Bowl.
First off, if you plan on throwing a Super Bowl viewing party, be sure to have lots of libations on hand. Nobody likes a party that runs out of alcohol by halftime and nobody wants to make a run to the store during the Super Bowl.
Secondly, if you are hosting a Super Bowl party you better have an HD Television or an HD projector and plenty of places for everyone to sit. I can’t believe I have to say this in 2016, but if you want a lot of people to come to your watch party you’d better have a HDTV. If you really want to step it up go 4K, but I’m not asking you to take if that far.
Finally, if you are going to have people over to watch the big game, be sure to have a good food selection. At the very least tell people to bring food. Some quality game day food options include wings, burgers, pizza, hot dogs, brats, or chips and dip. All of those are good options to consider having available for guests to eat.
Whether you are a fan of the Broncos or Panthers, just a fan of the NFL, or you simply want to watch the commercials, or for some reason you just want to watch the Coldplay and Beyoncé halftime show, the Super Bowl has something for everyone. Follow my guidelines on how to throw a good Super Bowl party and your friends will enjoy themselves and they will want to come to your next viewing party.
Now that we have all of that out of the way, let’s talk about on the field stuff. Watch out for these two defenses. The Broncos are the top ranked defense in the NFL while the Panthers are the number one team at forcing turnovers. This does not bode well for Peyton Manning who threw 17 picks during the regular season which was second only to Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles, and Manning only played 10 games.
I believe that if this game is high scoring the Panthers have the advantage, but if it is a low scoring game, and Denver hangs around all game, then it is very possible that Manning comes through with a final drive to go out on top. Plus, he has a receiving group of Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, not to mention Owen Daniels, who he former Tennessee Volunteer connected with for 2 touchdowns in the AFC Championship.
One of the best storylines from this game is that this is the first Super Bowl between two number one overall picks in the NFL Draft. The first 49 Super Bowls never featured this particular matchup, which could say something about how important it is to draft a quarterback wit the first pick in a draft.
I know everyone is talking about how it will be a huge battle between the two defenses and defenses win championships, but since both teams are so good defensively, I look at the offenses. The Carolina Panthers are led by Cam Newton, who will probably be named this season’s NFL MVP. The formr Auburn quarterback is flat out playing better than Peyton Manning right now which I can’t even believe I am saying.
This leads me to my prediction. I believe the Panthers will win 27-21 over the Broncos, and not only will Cam win the NFL MVP but he will also be the Super Bowl MVP. He will be the first player to do this since Kurt Warner in 1999. Be ready to watch this game, it will be a fun one.
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