For Broncos, D brings ring
Panthers crumble as Miller & Co. bring full pressure
The Denver Broncos were willing to bet NFL MVP Cam Newton and the league’s highest-scoring offense couldn’t beat them throwing the football.
So the Broncos loaded up the box and attacked the line of scrimmage to snuff out the Panthers’ run game, then let their talented pass rushers and cornerbacks go to work in a Super Bowl 50 win Sunday that — like Denver’s season — was driven by the NFL’s premier defense.
Star linebacker Von Miller’s destruction of Panthers right tackle Mike Remmers was just part of an all-around beatdown by a Broncos defense that saw mismatches across the board, provided they could temper Newton’s rushing threat.
They didn’t fall for the smokescreens and misdirection that had let the Panthers run so effectively in the playoffs. They dominated the line of scrimmage. They seemed to perpetually force third-and-long situations.
It was in those moments the Broncos pass defense was at its most dangerous — bookended by two Miller strip-sacks that earned him Super Bowl MVP honors, one handing teammate Malik Jackson a touchdown that set the tone in the first quarter and the other all but sealing the game with about four minutes to go.
“That was the whole game plan: Load the box. Force y’all to throw the ball. Can you throw the football?” Broncos cornerback Chris Harris said. “That was the game plan: load the box, one-onone man outside. They got a couple big plays, but I feel like me, (Aqib) Talib and (Bradley) Roby, we were able to come back and make more plays to shut them down.”
Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ mix of coverages and rushes seemed to have Newton off-kilter from the start — an array made possible because of the personnel advantages Denver saw if it could just contain the playmaking quarterback.
The Panthers’ receivers could not get open. When they did, Newton missed several throws.
An interception went through Ted Ginn Jr.’s hands in the red zone. The need to get their top receiving threat, tight end Greg Olsen, out in patterns limited the ways they could give Remmers and left tackle Michael Oher the necessary help against Miller and DeMarcus Ware, who combined for 4½ of the Broncos’ seven sacks.
It was a toxic cocktail on a day the Panthers also made some relatively unforced errors, including Mike Tolbert’s fumble on one of few first-down runs that went anywhere and a 61-yard punt return allowed to Jordan Norwood when everyone near the ball seemed to let up.
The Panthers’ best run threat came on a couple of Newton scrambles that fueled a nine-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to cut Denver’s lead to 10-7 early in the second quarter.
Endings to Carolina’s drives after that: punt, fumble, punt, end of half (on a Ware sack that ran out the clock), missed field goal attempt, interception, punt, field goal, punt, fumble, punt, end of game.
The Broncos managed 194 yards of offense and 11 first downs. But they didn’t have to do any more. The Panthers’ overall rushing numbers — 27 carries for 118 yards — were inflated by Newton’s scrambling.
The first-down rushing struggles changed the game, putting the receivers and protection unit in unfavorable positions on a day Newton was 18-for-41 passing for 265 yards and got hit far more than the sack numbers show.