Man, am I good at predictions, or what? Saw that coming a mile away.
So last night, the Broncos beat up the Panthers, winning 24-10 in a pretty ugly game that was completely dominated by both defenses. I did think it would be low scoring, considering these are probably two of the three best defenses in the league. But I really thought it would go the other way. I underestimated the Broncos defense again, and they proved a lot of people wrong, again. Peyton Manning goes out (one would think) as a winner, the storybook ending all of America craved so desperately.
People probably assume that I hate Peyton just because I'm a huge Patriots fan. Truth is, I don't hate Peyton. I actually think he's a pretty funny guy and he's clearly a good dude. I have a lot of respect for Peyton and realize that the postseason struggles from early in his career had a lot to do with his whole team sucking, not just him. But if you think that because Peyton now has a second ring that means he's clearly better than Brady, you just weren't watching all season. Peyton was terrible again yesterday, doing everything he could to cost his team the game. The interception he threw was dreadful, and he couldn't move the ball whatsoever all game. Granted, he was going against an excellent defense, but still.
Man, though, that Denver defense is good. Knee-jerk reaction says they're probably a top 5 defense of all time. Certainly top 5 of the modern era. I'm not really sure how the numbers will compare them with teams like the 2000 ravens, 2002 Bucs, or 2013/14 Seahawks, but they have to be pretty close. Their pass rush is totally dominating. I've always said Von Miller comes through in big games, and he and DeMarcus Ware destroyed Carolina, just like they destroyed New England. Even with a lousy game from Aqib Talib, the secondary easily shut down the Panthers' underwhelming receivers. The final numbers look good, but the Panthers' running game could never really get anything going, and most of their yards came on Cam Newton scrambles.
As far as Cam goes, he wasn't great. But not many people are great against a defense like this. He was off on a bunch of throws early, but his receivers dropped a lot of passes, too. The fumble he didn't dive for certainly wasn't a great look. While I think he probably just froze, it doesn't help his case against people who will want to say he quit when things weren't going his way. I think criticizing his post-game press conference is just hating for the sake of hating. Should he have walked out? Probably not. But if he was happy, smiling Cam the same people who are calling him classless and pouty would just say he's being arrogant and that he doesn't care he just lost. The only people who have more intense hatred for someone than the people that hate Cam are the people that hate Joe Buck. It's become totally irrational at this point. He's upset he didn't perform well in the biggest moment of his life. What do you want him to do? Get on his knees and blow Peyton? Try to suck some of the "classiness" out of him? Never dance or smile again, becoming a Derek Jeter clone? Get the Michael Jackson surgery? Please let me know, because I can't figure it out.
So yeah, this Super Bowl wasn't great, but the right team won. Denver outplayed them from the opening kickoff. Carolina's Kony Ealy will be forgotten, but he was amazing. But then again, so was just about every defensive player on the Broncos. So congrats, Peyton. Now please, just retire already.
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