The Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50 with a dominant defense that constantly created pressure on NFL MVP Cam Newton. 39 year old Peyton Manning gets a lot of the attention but this was mostly won by the NFL’s #1 defense and limiting mistakes. LB Von Miller being named MVP of the game was justified and no surprise. The final was 24-10 just like Golden State Warrior’s star Stephen Curry predicted except he had his Carolina Panthers winning.
The game started in 76 degree temperatures in sunny and windy Santa Clara, California just outside of San Francisco. Lady Gaga kicked off the night by singing the National Anthem and Denver won the coin toss. The Broncos came out aggressive, throwing the ball on their first 4 plays. The drive included 3 first downs, the only attained by the Broncos in the first half. It ended with a field goal and Denver up 3-0.
Carolina did little the first time they touched the ball, having to punt after a 3 and out. This is when the TV audience was treated to a Doritos commercial that showed their product inducing a quick, unexpected birth. Cringe worthy but pretty funny. The Broncos then experienced their own 3 and out with a punt.
With the ball deep in their own territory, the Panthers started the drive with a throw to WR Jericho Cotchery who bobbled it but seemed to hold on. The officials called it incomplete and Carolina Head Coach Ron Rivera threw the red flag to challenge the call. The call stood even though replay appeared to show the ball never touching the ground. This is when viewers had to endure a Mountain Dew Kickstart commercial with a Puppy-Monkey-Baby. Very disturbing but memorable. Two plays later, the Broncos’ pass rushing specialist Von Miller sacked Cam Newton and forced a fumble. It was recovered by Denver DL Malik Jackson in the end zone for a touchdown and a Broncos 10-0 lead with 6:27 left in the 1st quarter.
After both teams punted in their next possessions, the Panthers had an 8 play, 73 yard drive that ended with RB Jonathan Stewart jumping high into the end zone for Carolina’s 1st score. This is when Steven Tyler didn’t like his portrait made out of Skittles, Steve Harvey apologized for T-Mobile and Ryan Reynolds distracted half the viewing audience for a lot longer than the 30 seconds he was on the Hyundai commercial. The Broncos got a late field goal after former Cleveland Brown Jordan Norwood ran a punt back 61 yards to the 14 yard line. This was the longest punt return in Super Bowl history. The score at halftime was Denver 13 Carolina 7.
Just before the half, we got to see Ant Man take the Hulk’s Coca-Cola away from him and a Prius get mocked and rooted for while it tried to elude police. Neither are things that would be recommended. The halftime show starred Coldplay with appearances by Beyonce and Bruno Mars. It ended with all singing a song that paid homage to the many former Super Bowl halftime acts like Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Madonna and Katy Perry.
The 2nd half started out well for the Panthers but ended in a missed field goal. The kick hit the very top of the goal post. Replays later showed that Denver was off-sides but it was not called. Doritos made another statement with a commercial about dogs not being allowed into a grocery store but they were not going to be stopped. Thanks to a couple long pass plays, the Broncos drove down the field and kicked a field goal with 8:18 left in the 3rd quarter for a 16-7 lead.
With the ball back after receiving the kick-off, the Panthers were driving when Cam Newton’s pass went through Ted Ginn Jr’s hands and into former Cleveland Brown TJ Ward’s hands for an interception. Heinz proceeded to have a cute commercial with dogs running through a field dressed as hot dogs. After the commercial break, the Broncos had a 3 and out so no harm, no foul. This is when CBS hit the TV viewers with 3 good commercials in a short period of time. First Honda had sheep singing a Queen song and lastly United Healthcare had a dad showing off for his wife and 2 daughters like he was Rocky. In between these 2 commercials was a continuation of the Super Bowl Babies being mentioned by the NFL earlier during the game. This time the NFL showed actual Super Bowl Babies from different years singing a different version of Seal’s Kiss From a Rose.
Carolina drove down the field with a nice combination of Cam Newton passes and Jonathan Stewart runs before finally stalling. The Panthers kicked a field goal to cut the lead to 16-10 with 10:21 left in the game. The Broncos pass rush continue to do damage after Carolina got the ball back. Von Miller forced a Cam Newton fumble with just over 4 minutes left. Broncos RB CJ Anderson ran it in for Denver’s only offensive touchdown of the game. The 2 point conversion made it 24-10 with 3:08 left. The Panthers couldn’t do anything with the ball and decided to punt. Denver ran out most of the remaining time before it ended with Papa John’s founder John Schnatter congratulating Peyton Manning with a kiss on the field.
