Cammie and the Pussycats: What Went Wrong?

[OCST]

Game threaders were unanimous that the Panthers just did not show up.

I'm trying to remember a team that underperformed expectations in a title game so badly vs their regular season dominance. Not coming up with one offhand (maybe the Colts in SB III?)

So why did the Panthers shit the bed?

The obvious reason is that the Broncos D clowned the Carolina OL. I'm interested in looking further.

I'm usually reluctant to go with this kind of "analysis," but I think the Panthers were mentally unprepared. It makes me cringe to resort to Cardinals-fan type "play the game the right way" bromides, but when the QB makes a show of warming up in bespoke gold foil Superman Tshit and "MVP" high-tops, it indicates that his focus, and the team's, was not where it needed to be.

The offensive game plan was terrible. The offense generally seemed completely unprepared for Denver's defensive speed. Olsen was a nonfactor. The penalties. Gano looked so tense it was like he was facing a firing squad.

Again, it's really facile, but Rivera did not seem to have his guys ready to compete.

 

[Leather]

It seemed like they went in just expecting to be able to pass downfield, but after the first or second series, they got spooked and went more conservative, which only made Denver's front 7 more effective.

For the life of me, why they ran one play up the middle on every new set of downs, I will never know. It was like watching someone keep hitting the wrong button in Madden.

The Denver players are saying they could tell that Cam as spooked as early as the first quarter. Normally, I'd ascribe that to being bad winners and just smack talk, but after the bad call on the non-catch, and a drop or two early in the game, it really was evident he had no idea what to do. It was way too early to panic, yet there he was, panicking, with 3 quarters left to play. And then, rather than trying to make something happen later in the game when it was evident that Denver was having just as much trouble moving the ball, he just kind of gave up. But then again, so did the coaches.

 

[BoredViewer]

Cam's not a great passer. He couldn't connect enough over the top. Denver's D was good enough, fast enough to not allow him to make big improvised plays. It didn't look like Carolina had any other plan and were utterly surprised by this development.

 

[Super Nomario]

Game threaders were unanimous that the Panthers just did not show up.

I'm trying to remember a team that underperformed expectations in a title game so badly vs their regular season dominance. Not coming up with one offhand (maybe the Colts in SB III?)

 

[Jungleland]

It seemed clear for most of the game that the moment was getting to Carolina. Cam sailing passes over the heads of guys open downfield and horrible drops all felt like what people thought these players were at the beginning of the season and not how they played through its second half.

That said, the coaching staff deserves so much of the blame. How do you not adjust your game plan? How does your team keep running the play clock down to 1 and taking horrible false starts? Punting down 14! As upset as I was to watch Peyton take home another ring, I don't even want to imagine what it feels like for those actually emotionally invested in this Panthers team. Stupid mistake after stupid mistake in a game that wasn't over until the fumble.

 

[BigSoxFan]

At some point that inside handoff play to Stewart/Tolbert on 1st down was going to work, right? Panthers couldn't stay out of 3rd and long all night and it killed them. They don't have the passing game and the Broncos feast on it.

 

[steveluck7]

As impressive as the Denver D was, i come away thinking about the self inflicted wounds for Carolina.
-The strip sack TD shouldn't have been a fumble. It wasn't a blind side hit, Miller was coming right at Cam... protect the damn ball.
-Tolbert's fumble... wtf? The DB was going low, not even making an attempt to strip the ball yet Tolbert led with the ball
- The punt return

 

[johnmd20]

Those constant runs to Tolbet up the middle. My god, those runs. They burn my eyes.

Carolina got seized by the moment.

 

[IdiotKicker]

The Broncos front seven, to their credit, did a phenomenal job both getting pressure on Cam, as well as maintaining their rush lanes so there weren't any real gaps for him to scramble out of. It was really impressive, and I can't even count the number of times that Cam had a collapsing pocket that simply had no exit because the Broncos remained disciplined despite bringing a lot of pressure. Same thing in the run game, aside from maybe two or three plays, Denver had absolutely great gap control and uniform spacing on the line that just shut everything down.

Fact is that this was a very flawed Carolina team offensively - we've talked all year about how it was pretty much just Newton and not much else. You have some guys that can make plays here and there (Olsen, Brown, Stewart), but no one who stands out as someone you really have to gameplan against, and no depth of options. It's not surprising that a defense like the Broncos can take an offense like this and make them look bad.

 

[Montana Fan]

I know it doesn't make sense but Cam looked tired to me early in the second quarter. He was breathing through his mouth. As others have stated, the Panthers looked unprepared. They didn't have Cam air one out early and he didn't run nearly enough. Weird game.

 

[tims4wins]

He was tired because the Broncos made it really hard on him

Yet another regular season MVP to lose in the Super Bowl

 

[ShaneTrot]

I think what gets lost is Denver really covered well in both the SB and the AFC championship game. The Denver DBs blanketed receivers and that made the pass rush that much better.

 

[finnVT]

I know it doesn't make sense but Cam looked tired to me early in the second quarter. He was breathing through his mouth. As others have stated, the Panthers looked unprepared. They didn't have Cam air one out early and he didn't run nearly enough. Weird game.

I had the same thought. I don't watch a lot of Panthers games, so maybe this is normal for him, but I thought he looked sluggish even just receiving the snap... there were multiple times I thought the C must have snapped the ball early because he just seemed so slow to react to it. I hate trying to ascribe psychological explanations, but it almost felt like maybe he was concentrating so hard on staying calm that it came across as lethargy. Or maybe he was hurt. Or just had a bad day.

 

[johnmd20]

Cam looked utterly exhausted in the 2nd quarter. He was taking fire all game and it wore on him. Unprepared and overwhelmed by the moment. His early passes that missed hurt the team's momentum. And he missed a couple of easy ones.

Just a bad game by a great QB, because he went up an unbelievably good defense. You can't crap on this Broncos D, it was amazing.

 

[Silverdude2167]

Carolina did not fully show up, but I think the refs had a major hand in this game.

The catch that was called incomplete and then not over turned was the biggest play in the game. That coupled with Talib being offsides on the missed field goal and that is ten points right there that refs not doing their jobs caused.

I don't think a big enough deal about the non-overturned incomplete call right before the strip sack TD.

Denver offense could not do anything. Take away those 7 points and the game is completely different.

Also, if we are talking about Denver's CB's covering well. They were getting away with alot of DPI by current standards. Arms completely around the WR waist before the ball arrives, stuff like that. If that is the new standard for playing defense I will be happy, but I doubt it is.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

I think the answer is pretty obvious: Denver's defense is really, really good. They've proven over and over this season that they can make good offenses look lousy. Credit where credit is due.

I did notice how gassed Newton looked in the first half. I wondered whether he had a bruised/broken rib and/or a concussion. Losing Corey Brown didn't help either.

And of course, Carolina made a lot of unforced errors. The pre-snap penalties and delay of game were inexcusable, as well as the punt return. Did not look like a well coached team. Then again, the Pats made a ton of mistakes in both Denver games this season, and they have above average coaching. Denver is just a bitch to block.

 

[Strike4]

Those constant runs to Tolbet up the middle. My god, those runs. They burn my eyes.

Carolina got seized by the moment.

Also Cam's option-style handoffs and play action muddle the running game.

 

[coremiller]

1) Carolina got a little unlucky. They outgained Denver 315-194 and had 21 first downs to Denver's 11. Some of that is Denver getting very conservative with the lead in the second half, and of course that doesn't count the turnovers, but on a per-play basis Carolina probably outplayed Denver. But they lost most of the the big fluky plays -- Denver recovered 5/7 fumbles (one for a TD and another on the 4 yard line), and Carolina got killed on special teams: there was that long bizarre punt return where the gunners got confused, a missed FG, and a couple blocking penalties on punt returns that gave Carolina awful field position.

2) The Panthers' offensive staff got badly outcoached. They didn't seem to have a plan for "What do we do if we can't block Von Miller?", which is just remarkably dumb. What's even more frustrating about it is that the Panthers' normal scheme has lots of tactics for slowing down edge rushers: you can option them, trap them, screen them, run reverses/misdirections, run QB draw and Power, etc. all the sorts of things that force rushers to slow down and think and react and not just get after the QB. But Carolina hardly did any of that. It was very strange. They emptied the playbook against Arizona in the NFCCG with a huge lead but not in the Super Bowl in a close game. Bizarre.

 

[jablo1312]

I think "they didn't show up" is a pretty weak way to explain why a team failed. The Panthers fucked up in a number of different ways:

-They couldn't run the ball successfully at all outside of Cam. Not sure why they didn't give him more opportunities to run in the second half when he repeatedly had success with it early on. Maybe they tried to but the Broncos schemed it away.
-They allowed constant pressure on Cam. He broke away from 3-4 more sacks, but he was under constant durress all game. Remmers got annihilated by Miller at least as badly as Cannon did.
-That being said, Cam missed 4-5 throws off the top of my head that he should've made. Throwing off his back foot all game didn't help.
-Too many various miscues. Ted Ginn had a few balls go through his hands; they were contested, but catchable. Losing three fumbles will kill any team. And the constant 1st and 10 runs were just awful to watch.
-I think Cam got hurt sometime in the second quarter. Maybe a bruised rib or shoulder, but he looked like he was playing in pain for a lot of the game.
-The sneaky story of the game was Carolina's atrocious special teams play costing them field position over and over. Obviously missing a field goal is a killer that feels like a turnover. The punt return disaster. And then I remember 3 different special teams penalties that cost them 10-15 yards of field position after they forced a Dnever punt deep in their own territory. Just like in the Pats game, the Broncos were able to keep the Panthers from flipping field position on them. A few short field, and the entire complexion of the game could've been much different.

Ultimately, Carolina's inability to put themselves in decent 2nd and 3rd down position is what did them in IMO. Too many 3rd and longs. This game as absolutely right there for the taking and they just wouldn't take it.

 

[glennhoffmania]

Cam's not a great passer. He couldn't connect enough over the top. Denver's D was good enough, fast enough to not allow him to make big improvised plays. It didn't look like Carolina had any other plan and were utterly surprised by this development.

Yes. I admittedly didn't see every play but I saw at least three horrible passes, two of which sailed over the head of wide open receivers. He simply isn't a great passing QB. Simms (or maybe it was Nantz) made a comment that Newton would still be an excellent QB even if he couldn't run the ball. I think that's total nonsense. Take away Brown's jump ball catch that Talib should've at least knocked down and Newton's line looks even worse.

Walking out on his press conference isn't going to do him any favors either, but that's another issue.

 

[JimD]

Huge credit to the Denver defense for what they did in the playoffs. Newton just seemed like a guy who fully expected to have his way again and jump out to a big lead and didn't know what to do when the Broncos defense repeatedly closed in around him and nothing he was doing worked.

Mike Shula, meanwhile, reminded me of Abraham Lincoln's famous line about General William S. Rosecrans after the Union's defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga - Lincoln grumbled that Rosecrans acted "confused and stunned, like a duck hit on the head". Maybe Denver was just taking away whatever adjustments the Panthers were making, but it seemed like the Carolina coaching staff had no answers when the Broncos bottled up Newton and dared them to find another way to win.

 

[Reggie's Racquet]

I think "they didn't show up" is a pretty weak way to explain why a team failed. The Panthers fucked up in a number of different ways:

-They couldn't run the ball successfully at all outside of Cam. Not sure why they didn't give him more opportunities to run in the second half when he repeatedly had success with it early on. Maybe they tried to but the Broncos schemed it away.
-They allowed constant pressure on Cam. He broke away from 3-4 more sacks, but he was under constant durress all game. Remmers got annihilated by Miller at least as badly as Cannon did.
-That being said, Cam missed 4-5 throws off the top of my head that he should've made. Throwing off his back foot all game didn't help.
-Too many various miscues. Ted Ginn had a few balls go through his hands; they were contested, but catchable. Losing three fumbles will kill any team. And the constant 1st and 10 runs were just awful to watch.
-I think Cam got hurt sometime in the second quarter. Maybe a bruised rib or shoulder, but he looked like he was playing in pain for a lot of the game.
-The sneaky story of the game was Carolina's atrocious special teams play costing them field position over and over. Obviously missing a field goal is a killer that feels like a turnover. The punt return disaster. And then I remember 3 different special teams penalties that cost them 10-15 yards of field position after they forced a Dnever punt deep in their own territory. Just like in the Pats game, the Broncos were able to keep the Panthers from flipping field position on them. A few short field, and the entire complexion of the game could've been much different.

Ultimately, Carolina's inability to put themselves in decent 2nd and 3rd down position is what did them in IMO. Too many 3rd and longs. This game as absolutely right there for the taking and they just wouldn't take it.

When I read this I thought...well this sounds familiar. Couldn't run the ball, QB throwing off back foot constantly under pressure, drops, poor special teams play...

 

[jablo1312]

When I read this I thought...well this sounds familiar. Couldn't run the ball, QB throwing off back foot constantly under pressure, drops, poor special teams play...

Yup. And a defense that played mostly very well, and left the door wide open for the offense to steal the win if they could just make a couple plays....

 

[PaulinMyrBch]

Just an idiotic gameplan in my opinion. Panthers throw the ball down field to intermediate length routes. You need more time for that that the Pats do for the short passing game. Now you can puff your chest out in the 2 week game plan preparation and say we've got a better line than New England, but you still needed to hold them off longer than the Pats did. Once it was obvious that Denver was getting pressure for those types of routes, Shula never adjusted. I think designed rollouts, where Cam at least takes one of the two D-ends out of the picture and gives him a chance to pick up some yards scrambling would have been an adjustment that would have worked. May have put them in some 2nd and 6's if he keeps it and scrambles. Instead they left Cam in the pocket attempting to throw to routes that develop slower than Von Miller's pass rush develops. And since they were idiotic enough to leave him in the pocket, he had no where to go. A QB that big isn't exactly shifty, he's just real athletic in other areas, but once boxed in he got exposed. They should have aggressively used his athleticism instead of just hoping he'd make them pay.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Huge credit to the Denver defense for what they did in the playoffs. Newton just seemed like a guy who fully expected to have his way again and jump out to a big lead and didn't know what to do when the Broncos defense repeatedly closed in around him and nothing he was doing worked.

Mike Shula, meanwhile, reminded me of Abraham Lincoln's famous line about General William S. Rosecrans after the Union's defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga - Lincoln grumbled that Rosecrans acted "confused and stunned, like a duck hit on the head". Maybe Denver was just taking away whatever adjustments the Panthers were making, but it seemed like the Carolina coaching staff had no answers when the Broncos bottled up Newton and dared them to find another way to win.

In addition ot the lack of rollouts, I recall one flanker screen, that was done badly, but otherwise no real use of some quick screens to the RBs. Even if they don't gain much yards, making the defense play line to line can add up to some tired Broncos in the latter stages of the game and take zip out of the pass rush. Those interior line plunges by the RBs not only didn't work, but didn't force the D to spend a ton of energy stopping them.

 

[Mugsy's Jock]

I wasn't part of the game thread last night, but one question that I had in the moment that I haven't seen answered... on the Carolina interception in the fourth quarter (which was fumbled and recovered by Denver), did that pass go straight through the receiver's (Ginn?) hands and was totally catchable? CBS never showed a replay (all in, CBS didn't use replay nearly enough last night, despite the fact neither offense was in any kind of hurry-up), but to me I thought that was a game-changing non-catch approaching Welker's misadventure.

 

[lexrageorge]

Denver's defense did a good job taking the Panthers out of their comfort zone. Denver's DB's are better at coverage than most here admit, and the front 7 played a very disciplined game while creating tremendous pressure. It was the same formula used to beat Brady: generate pressure by rushing 4. Newton looked like he hadn't really faced that kind of pressure in a long time.

As much as it pains us, sometimes you have to give credit to the victors for bringing their A game, which they certainly did on the defensive side of the ball. Both Denver TD's were either scored or set up by the D, and that was good enough in a game where the Panthers were only able to manage 10 points.

 

[RG33]

I don't even want to imagine what it feels like for those actually emotionally invested in this Panthers team. Stupid mistake after stupid mistake in a game that wasn't over until the fumble.

My wife and I were at the game and it was really fucking painful to watch. Her family are hard-core Panthers fans. Cam was just so atrocious, and the coaching staff has its head up its ass. The read-options up the gut on 1st down every-fucking-possession was killing me. It was just a slow torture for 4 hours.

This is how my wife felt:

 

[Captaincoop]

I feel like that entire game could have been different if the officials had gotten the call right on the big pass play in the first quarter.

Not only does that eliminate the 7 points Denver picked up on the ensuing strip sack, it also settles Newton down at a moment in the game where he was reeling a bit.

7 points alone was huge. Denver's offense was nonexistent and desperately needed that help from the defense (and the officials).

Really lousy, disappointing game.

 

[Dehere]

Best as I can tell from the gamebook CAR ran between the tackles 17 times for 34 yards. Meanwhile they ran one option pitch for 15 yards and never went back to it. Never ran misdirection, never ran a reverse. Ran I believe one designed run for Cam that easily picked up a first down.

Really a puzzling night of playcalling. Felt like that was the biggest factor.

 

[johnmd20]

Those runs up the middle generated less than nothing but they did provide a fumble. It was really an odd choice.

Hey, here is an idea. Let's rush Tolbert up the middle on every first down. They will never see that coming.

 

[jcaz]

I'm not a big Xs and Os guy, so maybe some of the ITP crew can chime in here, but isn't a normal reaction to tremendous defensive pressure from the edges to try and exploit the center of the line? I think Carolina tried to do that with the draw plays up the middle, but I think they would have been better served to run some delay draws, or even QB draws with Newton running up the middle. Let the rushers come off the edge then exploit the vacated center of the defensive line.

I thought that's where Carolina would have had much more success against Denver than the Patriots did, because Newton could hit that hole in a way that Tom was never going to.

 

[lexrageorge]

Best as I can tell from the gamebook CAR ran between the tackles 17 times for 34 yards. Meanwhile they ran one option pitch for 15 yards and never went back to it. Never ran misdirection, never ran a reverse. Ran I believe one designed run for Cam that easily picked up a first down.

Really a puzzling night of playcalling. Felt like that was the biggest factor.

They did try a double pass, but it fooled noone, and Denver was credited with the sack.

We deal with this after Patriot losses as well; it's easy to blame the play calling. However, successful play calling does require successful execution of enough plays to avoid 3rd-and-long situations. The Panthers had 15 drives, not counting the final garbage time drive after the Denver punt. The Panthers had 15 3rd down situations on offense, of which they converted 3. Looking at those 3rd downs:

3rd-and-8, punt
3rd-and-10, fumble and Denver TD
3rd-and-8, first down (drive ends in punt)
3rd-and-4, punt
3rd-and-1, first (TD)
3rd-and-12, punt
3rd-and-10, punt
3rd-and-12, first down (end of half)
3rd-and-2, first down (end of half)

3rd-and-11, missed FG
3rd-and-8, punt
3rd-and-9, FG
3rd-and-14, punt
3rd-and-9, sack/fumble
3rd-and-24, punt

The average yardage in those 3rd down situations was 9.5 yards. Makes it very hard to get creative. Also, I haven't looked at all of Cam Newton's runs this season, so I'm not sure how many of his rushing plays were designed for him and how many were secondary reads or improvisations. But it's probably not realistic to have Cam run on 3rd-and-long all day and expect that to be a successful strategy.

 

[8slim]

I feel like that entire game could have been different if the officials had gotten the call right on the big pass play in the first quarter.

Not only does that eliminate the 7 points Denver picked up on the ensuing strip sack, it also settles Newton down at a moment in the game where he was reeling a bit.

7 points alone was huge. Denver's offense was nonexistent and desperately needed that help from the defense (and the officials).

Really lousy, disappointing game.

I agree. That call was baffling. Unless I completely missed something, it sure as hell looked like that the receiver kept the ball off the turf and eventually pinned it to his thigh at the end of the play. If they had ruled it a catch on the field then I imagine it would have been upheld.

I had a feeling that if the Broncos D could score points then they'd be tough to beat, and that's exactly what that play triggered.

 

[RG33]

Best as I can tell from the gamebook CAR ran between the tackles 17 times for 34 yards. Meanwhile they ran one option pitch for 15 yards and never went back to it. Never ran misdirection, never ran a reverse. Ran I believe one designed run for Cam that easily picked up a first down.

Really a puzzling night of playcalling. Felt like that was the biggest factor.

I just couldn't understand it. The outside option play to Whittaker picks up 15 yards, and then they never went back to it. Ever.

There were at least 4 read-options where Cam gave it to the inside back where on replay you could see the DE biting towards the line, and I said "he has to take that and bounce it outside". It just seemed like he was either reading some of those handoffs wrong or something. After watching (hopefully) that Patriots game, I don't see how the offensive coaches didn't come into this game saying "we can't have Cam stay in the pocket all night and get teed off on".

I think anytime a favored team loses the "they got outcoached" mantra is overdone, but I really think Rivera and staff got badly outcoached yesterday.

 

[lars10]

They did try a double pass, but it fooled noone, and Denver was credited with the sack.

We deal with this after Patriot losses as well; it's easy to blame the play calling. However, successful play calling does require successful execution of enough plays to avoid 3rd-and-long situations. The Panthers had 15 drives, not counting the final garbage time drive after the Denver punt. The Panthers had 15 3rd down situations on offense, of which they converted 3. Looking at those 3rd downs:

3rd-and-8, punt
3rd-and-10, fumble and Denver TD
3rd-and-8, first down (drive ends in punt)
3rd-and-4, punt
3rd-and-1, first (TD)
3rd-and-12, punt
3rd-and-10, punt
3rd-and-12, first down (end of half)
3rd-and-2, first down (end of half)

3rd-and-11, missed FG
3rd-and-8, punt
3rd-and-9, FG
3rd-and-14, punt
3rd-and-9, sack/fumble
3rd-and-24, punt

The average yardage in those 3rd down situations was 9.5 yards. Makes it very hard to get creative. Also, I haven't looked at all of Cam Newton's runs this season, so I'm not sure how many of his rushing plays were designed for him and how many were secondary reads or improvisations. But it's probably not realistic to have Cam run on 3rd-and-long all day and expect that to be a successful strategy.

I feel like the whole point many have made here is the reason they were in third and long constantly was due to the first down runs that gained nothing. They kept trying though so they were constantly in third and long.

I think denver's d was good to great, but I also think they benefitted from not getting called for defensive holding or dpi hardly ever. They didn't show many replays, but def in the Pats game Denver was allowed to hold or arrive very early on a number of plays. Those extra seconds are huge and make a good pass rush great.

 

[bankshot1]

I'm trying to remember a team that underperformed expectations in a title game so badly vs their regular season dominance. Not coming up with one offhand (maybe the Colts in SB III?)

Well to answer your question, just two years ago a Denver a 3-point favorite, led by a record-setting Peyton Manning shit all over themselves.

I thought the Panther's O-line would be much better than they were last night. But they got swamped just like the Pats did.

Any Bay area sightings of Dave G over the week-end?

And after that incomplete/complete long pass was followed by the Miler strip sack-fumble TD, the life seemed to drain from the Panthers.

Not enough lives in the Cats

 

[bankshot1]

dp

 

[Super Nomario]

I feel like that entire game could have been different if the officials had gotten the call right on the big pass play in the first quarter.

Not only does that eliminate the 7 points Denver picked up on the ensuing strip sack, it also settles Newton down at a moment in the game where he was reeling a bit.

7 points alone was huge. Denver's offense was nonexistent and desperately needed that help from the defense (and the officials).

Really lousy, disappointing game.

The psychology of this sort of thing is interesting. Why obsess over the call that might have been missed as opposed to Cotchery failing to catch it cleanly in the first place?

 

[Dehere]

They did try a double pass, but it fooled noone, and Denver was credited with the sack.

Notice how on that play Cam just lollipopped the ball out to Ginn(?). If you're going to call a double pass you have to make that first lateral QUICKLY. It was so lazy and I thought indicative of CAR's uninspired approach to the whole game.

Also, this is purely subjective personal observation, but I was also in the stadium for this one and I thought Gano's try hitting the upright sapped a lot of energy out of the Panthers and their fans. Was the first point in the game that I really thought, you know, this just isn't their day. If that FG gets made its a three point game and you've got to be feeling pretty good about your ability to contain Denver's offense the rest of the way.

 

[Silverdude2167]

The psychology of this sort of thing is interesting. Why obsess over the call that might have been missed as opposed to Cotchery failing to catch it cleanly in the first place?

Because he caught the ball. Even if he did not catch it cleanly he still caught it. This call basically decided the game. Denver needed a Defensive TD and they got it because of the call.

 

[86spike]

Denver's defense did a good job taking the Panthers out of their comfort zone. Denver's DB's are better at coverage than most here admit, and the front 7 played a very disciplined game while creating tremendous pressure. It was the same formula used to beat Brady: generate pressure by rushing 4. Newton looked like he hadn't really faced that kind of pressure in a long time.

As much as it pains us, sometimes you have to give credit to the victors for bringing their A game, which they certainly did on the defensive side of the ball. Both Denver TD's were either scored or set up by the D, and that was good enough in a game where the Panthers were only able to manage 10 points.

I was preaching this for two weeks.

Carolina built their 15-1 record against one of the weakest slate of opponents in the league.

They played Jax, Houston, New Orleans (x2), TB (x2), SEA, Philly, Indy, GB, Tenn, Washington, Dallas, Atlanta (x2), NYG.

If they had a schedule as tough as Denver's was, they likely would have been a 12 or 13 win team. As a result their offensive and defensive stats looked better than they really were.

People talked about how their read option running game was unstoppable. Stopping that attack is not impossible. College and high school defenses manage to do so all the time. It takes discipline and patience maintaining coverage on the lanes. Denver (who has been hell to run on all year) was fully capable. Once the read option broke down, CAR had nothing else. Because they never had to try anything else all year against such weak competition.

I do think the team probably got a little bit of a swollen head and perhaps that contributed a bit to the dazed look as things broke down (that dabbing team photo probably feels like a bad idea now in the cold light of the morning after), but last night was primarily about a team facing the best defense they had seen and not having a plan B.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

I thought the Panthers did a really poor job of getting to the line on offense. There were plays where Newton seemed in slow motion to end a play, and would just sort of take a knee for 10 seconds before getting to the huddle and as a result, it seemed like he was always getting to the line with 10 seconds left, and not really settling in until 5 seconds left. The results were two-fold. It didn't give him much time to try to read the defense, in a game where diagnosing blitz would have been important. Second, the Broncos were able to pin their ears back and that split second of surprise that the offensive line can use to get leverage was missing. They ended up taking so many 5-yard penalties that they were always in third and long. And it also cost them directly in the end of the first half, where they had to use one of their two time outs to avoid a delay of game penalty early in the drive, and then ended up running out of time on the Broncos' 45-yard line because they couldn't stop the clock. There was another example where Philly Brown came up with a great 40-yard catch at some point and was clearly hurt on the play. He sat on the field for a few seconds and then eventually stumbled off, and by the time the Panthers got to the line there were 3 seconds left on the play clock and they had to hurry the snap. Brown should have stayed down (thought it might have been the play when he was concussed).

 

[NortheasternPJ]

The read-options up the gut on 1st down every-fucking-possession was killing me. It was just a slow torture for 4 hours.

I haven't seen a ton of the Panthers outside of the playoffs, but are their run options always so ugly looking? I get the whole point of it, but it seemed like they just ran into each other, if the RB got it, he had no momentum and if Cam kept it he was flat footed. Maybe it's just sticking out because of the botched one that almost killed them.

 

[luckiestman]

Because he caught the ball. Even if he did not catch it cleanly he still caught it. This call basically decided the game. Denver needed a Defensive TD and they got it because of the call.

This call did not decide the game. You keep saying it did, but the Panthers had plenty of chances after this call. Never mind the fact the refs basically gave them a turnover on the Talib play. Sorry you lost a lot of money or pride betting on Cam or whatever has you so fired up about this but Denver was better and they showed it.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

It was referenced in the game thread at some point about the Broncos jumping the silent snap count all game.

Why was Carolina using a silent snap count at all? It couldn't have been that loud. I know Manning complained a couple years ago about how he wasn't ready for the crowd noise, but the Super Bowl is generally a rather neutral crowd. Even if it was 60% Broncos fans, a silent snap count was really necessary?

 

[luckiestman]

It was referenced in the game thread at some point about the Broncos jumping the silent snap count all game.

Why was Carolina using a silent snap count at all? It couldn't have been that loud. I know Manning complained a couple years ago about how he wasn't ready for the crowd noise, but the Super Bowl is generally a rather neutral crowd. Even if it was 60% Broncos fans, a silent snap count was really necessary?

Silent snap count AND doing it with almost no time left on the play clock. I have no idea what they were doing.

 

[lexrageorge]

Because he caught the ball. Even if he did not catch it cleanly he still caught it. This call basically decided the game. Denver needed a Defensive TD and they got it because of the call.

Denver also got the TD because Carolina ran a half-hearted running play for no gain on the subsequent play. And Newton made a bad read on the play he got sacked (he had a open player streaking across the middle in the flat).

The replay official clearly blew the call on the Crotchery catch. But if a team cannot survive a single bad call in the first quarter, then they don't deserve to win the game. The missed call did not cause Carolina's punt coverage team to surround Norwood before letting him go for 61 yards. Nor did it cause Gano to miss a gimme FG in the opening drive of the 2nd half. Nor did it cause Newton to make a terrible throw in the 2nd drive of the second half, a drive that should have ended in a Panther score. Those 3 plays handed at least 9 easy points to Denver.

 

[edmunddantes]

It was amazing to see how quickly Denver defense got off the line again. There were many shots where I could have sworn they had to have been offside. They were often moving past the Carolina o-line before they even got fully out of their stances which then led to a lot of the false starts later on.

 

[Silverdude2167]

This call did not decide the game. You keep saying it did, but the Panthers had plenty of chances after this call. Never mind the fact the refs basically gave them a turnover on the Talib play. Sorry you lost a lot of money or pride betting on Cam or whatever has you so fired up about this but Denver was better and they showed it.

Denver's offense could not score. That call decided the game. Does Denver win without those 7 points from the defense?