SUPER BOWL - Super Bowl 50 preview: Denver or Carolina - who will win the NFL's biggest prize on Sunday?

The AFC champion Broncos and the NFC champion Panthers are ready to go toe to toe for the Lombardi trophy and the right to call themselves world champions 

After what seems like an age of watching and waiting it's finally here: Super Bowl Sunday is now just around the corner.
After a wild season only one game now remains with all the marbles in play as the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers do battle for the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Cam Newton with his big arm and even bigger ego takes on Peyton Manning and his fairytale comeback and maybe, just maybe, an even more fairytale ending.

The eyes of the world are on Santa Clara, San Francisco and Levi's Stadium where the 50th Super Bowl winner will soon be crowned.
But who will it be?

Here's what to expect in Super Bowl 50:

This year’s showpiece sees two very different, but equally fascinating, quarterbacks take the field. One is a future Hall of Famer, a winner of a Lombardi before and despite now raging against the dying of the light one who will go down as a true NFL great. The other is the young pretender, the heir apparent, who craves the feeling of that first Super Bowl ring on his finger.


What more can be said about Peyton Manning that hasn’t already? The greatest regular season quarterback of all time with more yards, touchdowns and MVP trophies than anyone in history. This will be his last rodeo and the Sheriff wants to ride off into the sunset a champion, the same way the man who brought him to Denver, John Elway, did all those years ago.

Much like Elway then, Peyton’s veteran arm looks all of its 39 years as the curtain prepares to fall and the deep outs don’t quite explode off the hand like they once used to. They’re barely in the playbook at all now, if truth be told. But it matters not. The Broncos are at the dance and have him to thank for getting them there.
There are other bigger factors in play but perhaps the old magician has one more trick up his sleeve before the music stops.

On the opposite side - and the opposite end of the career scale - is Cam Newton , a 250lb linebacker playing quarterback who can throw harder, run faster and celebrate better than anyone in the game today. Put simply: he’s become a man apart.



In a season where he guided the Panthers to only one loss and earned league MVP honours in doing so Newton redefined how the position is played. If you were to mold the modern QB out of clay you would mold Cam, right up to his chiseled good looks and knowing grin.

While you can’t overstate the value of experience in the game’s biggest game you also can’t overplay just how good Cam Newton has been in 2015. Brimming with the confidence he’s always had Newton has added extra resilience, leadership and a maturity that was lacking before. Right now he’s the best quarterback in football playing at the very top of his game - and he’ll be the best on the field on Sunday by a distance.


Bar a few star names neither of these two offenses are packed to the gills with talent. The fact that they are both here today speaks to how well coached they both are, and how well they extract more from less.


Manning has had better casts of characters down the years, with both the Colts and the Broncos, and not won it all while Newton lost his best offensive weapon, wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, before the season even began and proceeded to reel off 17 wins.

Denver’s offense won’t flow through the arm of Manning but through the legs of running backs CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman . While neither are a Marshawn Lynch or a LeVeon Bell expect the Panthers to stack the box from down one and dare Manning to pass beyond the sticks, something DC Sean McDermott will believe he can no longer do.

When Denver are at their best they are built around the run. Indeed, they are unbeaten this year when they rush 30 or more times so expect Gary Kubiak to go to the ground early and often. If Manning can get it to them on the outside wideouts Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas can be devastating after the catch, too.

If Kubiak’s wanting any advice on how to run the ball he could do a lot worse than look across to the other sideline. The Panthers boast the league’s best – and most diverse - running game and have proven week in, week out they are a force to be reckoned with.



In Jonathan Stewart they have a downhill, physical runner with giant fullback Mike Tolbert his one-man escort between the tackles. Receiver Ted Ginn Jr . is the wildcard speed option on sweeps and end arounds while Cam, blessed with superhuman physical gifts, can do all of that and more.

They roll into Santa Clara off the back of 31-straight 100-yard games and are sure to be giving Wade Phillips fits. He won’t be sleeping on Newton’s arm either – Carolina aren’t the league’s highest-scoring offense because of his legs alone.


Denver’s defense is the best in the land and has playmakers at every level to show for it. Derek Wolfe and Malik Jackson provide the up front push for pass rushing exocets Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware to tee off the edge while Danny Trevathan and Brandon Marshall are two of the best sideline-to-sideline linebackers in the game and will have the middle of the field locked down.




On the back end Aqib Talib and Chris Harris are two of the premium man-to-man corners around and have TJ Ward and Darian Stewart as high class safety blankets behind. Add to that perhaps the best defensive mind of a generation in Wade Phillips and you have one spicy meatball to deal with. They will bring the noise on Sunday.

If the Broncos’ D is the numero uno then Carolina’s own defensive unit comes in a very close second. While they may not have the star power of their opposite numbers the Panthers still pack one hell of a punch and collect takeaways like Kinder toys.



Luke Kuechly is the standard-bearer, the best three down linebacker in the game today, and a force of nature that must be accounted for on every play. Alongside him Thomas Davis , complete with broken forearm, is damn near almost as good.

Cornerback Josh Norman likes to talk the talk but walks the walk too and has been erasing #1 receivers for fun all year long. Tackles Kawann Short and Star Lotuleilei have been stout all year but have come up big time in the playoffs and will aim to be in Manning’s face from the get go. How early and often they get to #18 could decide the game.
 

Coaches will always tell you that the third phase of the game is just as important as the other two, and we’ve seen just that in recent Super Bowls. Jacoby Jones broke the game wide open with his 108-yard touchdown return three years ago before Percy Harvin repeated the trick 12 months later.


Sunday sees two legit special teams units who have potential to break one off at any time. Denver came up big against Pittsburgh time and again in their Divisional round win while the Panthers have started more drives from inside their opponents territory than any other team. Ginn Jr, while a liability actually catching the ball, has the game-breaking speed to take one all the way back.

Don’t forget the kicking game either with Brandon McManus , used to the oxygen free air of Mile High, a danger from anywhere inside 55. Graham Gano is no slouch either though and has been clutch when needed all season long.
Coaches

It’s no accident that the two Super Bowl teams are coached by two of the best groups in the league.
It’s been a rollercoaster first year back in Denver for Gary Kubiak . Not many coaches bench their Hall of
Fame starting quarterback half way through the season only to reinstate him in the playoffs and get away with it. But Kubiak has and deserves every credit for the class he showed in dealing with such a gigantic and problematic elephant in the room. Of course, having two great coordinators in Rick Dennison and in particular Wade Phillips cooking up master gameplans week in, week out helps but it’s Kubiak’s team and he’s done a fine job with them.

Opposite him Ron Rivera has long proven himself as an innovative and creative play-caller with the stones to make the bold call, but he appears to have reined in his Riverboat tendencies in favour of field position and minimizing mistakes. And all for the better. That said it remains his man management and motivational skills that set him apart. GM Dave Gettleman has done his bit in putting together a stacked roster too, but the way Rivera has molded them and got them to play for him his way is the real key. If he pulls it off on Sunday and hoists the Lombardi after only one loss he’ll deserve mention amongst the modern greats.
 
Prediction

The sheer amount of narratives in play and storylines that can unfold make Super Bowl 50 as eagerly-anticipated as ever. Both teams deserve to be here, this is no fluke. Carolina were the class of the NFC from early on while Denver peaked at the perfect time to take the AFC’s top seed.

You can’t discount Denver’s winning pedigree and the fact they were here just two years ago gives them nothing to fear. Not that Cam and Carolina have shown any signs whatsoever of being scared all year either.

As the old adage goes defense wins championships so Denver should be my pick … but after one of the great seasons I’m loathe to go against Cam’s Panthers.

After 15 wins and only one loss we should all have been believing long ago but for any lingering doubters the uncompromising beatdowns of the NFC’s other two best teams, in back-to-back weeks no less, has me convinced we are witnessing one of the great teams.

Unlike some I can see Denver making it close with a turnover or two perhaps even making it into a classic but can you really see Newton, after his season of seasons, falling at the final hurdle? Not for my money.

Who will win Super Bowl 50?

Denver broncos Carolina panthers