Newton’s 4 TDs, stifling defense spark Carolina’s record rout
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Superman is bringing his cape and his pen to Super Bowl 50. He’s leaving behind his camera.
“Yeah, we are going to the Super Bowl. We are not going just to take pictures,” Cam Newton said Sunday after leading the Carolina Panthers into the big game with a 49-15 rout of the Arizona Cardinals for the NFC title. “We are trying to finish this thing off.”
That would be against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in two weeks.
“Playing the sheriff,” Newton said of Manning. “We’re going to live in the moment right now. We’re going to be excited.”
Newton threw for two touchdowns and ran for two, and Carolina’s big-play defense stifled Arizona’s top-ranked offense. The 49 points were the most for an NFC title game winner.
The NFL’s new top man at quarterback — Newton is an All-Pro this season — goes against
five-time MVP Manning. The Panthers are favored by four points.
“We’ve been dreaming about this moment since day one,” Newton said. “Our pen has a lot more ink left.”
It will be Newton’s first trip to the Super Bowl and the second for Carolina (171), which lost to New England 12 years ago.
The Panthers’ defense was relentless. It picked off Carson Palmer four times, forced two fumbles by him and never let up the assault.
Special teams also had a takeaway, and when Carolina grabbed a 24-7 halftime lead this time, it didn’t back off as it did in nearly blowing a 31-point margin a week ago against the Seattle Seahawks.
When Newton flew into the end zone for a 12-yard third-quarter touchdown — no, he didn’t have the cape on — he posed like a superhero, dabbed a bit, and pointed the Panthers toward the Bay Area.
Newton finished with 335 yards passing and 47 rushing as Carolina won its 13th consecutive home game, including three in the playoffs.
One of his biggest helpers was Ted Ginn Jr., who was dumped by the Cardinals after last season. Ginn had a 32-yard punt return to set up his weaving 22-yard TD run and chased down All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson to prevent a second-quarter touchdown. He also had 52 yards on two receptions.
The Panthers’ defense did the rest, most notably making Palmer uncomfortable in the pocket and turning Larry Fitzgerald, the star of last week’s overtime victory over Green Bay, into a virtual non-entity.
Pressure defense
“We wanted to come out and play a complete game, and I think the guys up front played exceptional,” linebacker Luke Kuechly said. “There was pressure all day.”
Capping the barrage was Kuechly, who returned an interception 22 yards for a score.
The scoring started quickly, as it did for the Panthers against the Seahawks. Newton hit four passes for 35 yards on their opening drive and Graham Gano hit from 45 yards for a 3-0 lead.
Criticized for being too conservative against Green Bay, Palmer let it fly from the outset. He just connected too many times with Carolina’s players.
“I kept digging us in a hole, and we just couldn’t come out of it,” Palmer said.
Ginn’s 32-yard punt return set up the Panthers at the Cardinals’ 49. Six plays later, he took a pitch from Newton, headed left and broke a tackle by Justin Bethel. Ginn cut across the field into the end zone for a 10-0 lead.
Nearly as swiftly, it was 17-0 after Newton fired a dart to Philly Brown. Another botched tackle, this one at the Carolina 47 by Rashad Johnson, left Brown with nothing but turf.
Arizona finally moved into Carolina territory, only to see Kawann Short sack Palmer and strip the ball.
The Cardinals kept trying and put together a 79yard scoring drive on which David Johnson starred after an ignominious start. He was plastered by All-Pro linebacker Thomas Davis for a 6-yard loss on the first play of the series and then came back to gain 25 yards, including a 1-yard TD dive.
Davis, who had six tackles, left with a broken right forearm during that drive.
Peterson’s gaffe
Peterson made a huge muff trying to field a punt later in the second period. Jonathan Stewart ran for 17 and 23 yards — more missed tackles by the Arizona defense — and Newton leaped to extend the ball over the goal line from the 1.
At one point, the Cardinals had turnovers on three consecutive plays: the muff, Palmer’s fumble, and Coleman’s first of two interceptions.
“We’re Thieves Avenue,” Coleman said.