Ronza Anderson Jr.
MC301 Contributor
On Jan. 24, four teams battled it out on the gridiron for a chance to play in Super Bowl 50.
The Carolina Panthers, the National Football Conference champions, will face the Denver Broncos, the American Football Conference champions.
There will be a lot of excitement surrounding this year’s Super Bowl mainly because this is expected to be Peyton Manning’s last NFL game. Also there are many fans that want to see if Cam Newton and his swagger will rise to the occasion for the biggest game in sports.
“The Panthers will win the Super Bowl because the Panthers defense is No. 1 in the league statically and I believe their leadership will get them to the top,” said Frantreasea Williams, a sophomore criminal justice major from Crystal Springs, Miss.
The road to the Super Bowl for both teams has not been easy. The Panthers had the opportunity to go undefeated throughout the whole season, which had not been done since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who also won the Super Bowl. However, during week 16 of the season, the Panthers faced the Falcons and lost 20-13.
There were a lot of fans wondering could the loss have a major impact on the rest of the season for the Panthers, and had they lost their “swagger”.
On the other side, the Denver Broncos’ road to the Super Bowl was nowhere near pretty. There was some skepticism if the Broncos would even make the playoffs, after losing their star quarterback, Manning, for more than half of the season. Backup quarterback Brock Oswiler stepped up to the challenge and who won five out of his eight starts, and also had a completion rate of 61.8 percent with only six interceptions.
Brendan Loggins, a sophomore civil engineering major from Memphis, Tenn. said, “I think the Carolina Panthers are going to win the Super Bowl because of their explosive defense, and the way their front seven is set up; they can also get to the quarterback in about three to four seconds, which will be helpful shutting down Peyton Manning.”
There key factors in this year’s Super Bowl will be the play of both quarterbacks, Newton and Manning.
According to ESPN, Manning has thrown for 398 total yards with no interceptions and a completion rate of 55.7 percent postseason. Manning needs to keep this efficiency if he wants to win his second Super Bowl.
For the Panthers, Newton needs to continue his style of play as he will face off against the number one defense in the league statistically. Newton will have to figure out how to crack a defense that has only allowed 200 passing yards per game and 83.4 rushing yards per game.
There will be a lot of emotion surrounding the game that will have everyone’s eyes glued to the television.
The big game is scheduled to be played on Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. For those not attending, CBS will broadcast the game.
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