The Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos are set to face off in Super Bowl 50 on Sunday night and it is a very intriguing matchup. A lot of people want to make this game about the new school quarterback vs. the old school quarterback but Cam Newton and Peyton Manning will not be on the field at the same time at all during the game. The matchup that really stands out and that will likely be the deciding factor in the game is how the Broncos try to slow down Cam and the Panthers vaunted offense.
If you watched the AFC Championship game you likely realized that the Broncos are not the type of team that will be able to outscore teams anymore. Manning had good numbers against the Patriots but for the most part the offense struggled and it was the defense that really willed the team to the victory. That will likely have to be the case again on Sunday night as the Panthers themselves have a very good defense and will likely not allow too many points to the Broncos.
The Panthers were the highest scoring team in the NFL this season and they did it in a variety of different ways. Yes they had some help from their defense in the scoring column but Newton threw for 30-plus touchdowns and ran for 10 while the team averaged more than four yards per carry. This offense is potent and the Broncos will have a very difficult task of slowing them down.
The best way for the Broncos to stop the Panthers offense actually starts with their own offense. In the one game the Panthers lost this season (week 16 at Atlanta) they only had the ball for 24 minutes and as a result they scored just 13 points. The Broncos need to possess the ball for long periods of time and avoid three-and-outs at all costs. The best way to do that is to get the ground game going with C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman. Recently the Broncos have struggled to move the ball on the ground but they will need to get chunks of yards via the run to help Manning out and to give their defense a fighting chance.
Having said all of this, the Broncos do have the number one defense in football so they have plenty of ways that they can stop the Panthers offense too. The biggest key to the Broncos even being in the Super Bowl was their pass rush and they will need to be on point again this week. Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware are likely the most vaunted pair of pass rushers in the NFL but they will have a tougher task than they did a week ago.
First of all Newton is a lot tougher to bring down than Tom Brady. Newton is mobile and a physical specimen so he won't just go down like Brady does sometimes. Second of all the Panthers offensive line is much more stout than the Patriots was in the Championship game. It would be crazy to expect Newton to be hit as many times as Brady was in the AFC Championship but the Broncos still have to find a way to make him uncomfortable.
One area in which the Broncos defense has a decided advantage is on the perimeter. The Panthers' wide receivers aren't exactly great and the Broncos have two of the top cornerbacks out there to cover Ted Ginn or whoever else they line up out there. Ginn is the team's deep threat and if the Broncos have any chance of slowing this offense down they cannot allow the big play. Aqib Talib and Chris Harris are two of the best corners in the league and they need to lock onto their men in this game and not allow much of any production to the Panthers wide receivers.
The biggest issue for the Broncos defense will likely be Greg Olsen though. The Broncos struggled to contain the best tight-end in football last week (Rob Gronkowski) and now they are tasked with facing maybe the second best tight-end in the league. Olsen has been great all year and is Cam's go-to target everywhere on the field so the Broncos need to focus a lot of attention on him. The Broncos would be wise to double and maybe even triple cover Olsen at points during this game and let their top notch corners do their thing on the outside by winning the one-on-one matchups.
Many people aren't giving the Broncos a chance in this game because the Panthers have looked like a juggernaut recently. These people forget though, that the Broncos are the best defense the Panthers will have faced all year and they are coming off a game in which they beat Tom Brady up. The Broncos will have their work cut out for them against Newton and the Panthers but they have the personnel to be able to keep them in check at the very least. If the Broncos can control the run game, make Newton uncomfortable and take away his top target (which are all realistic) they have a very good shot to win this game.
