The Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers will face each other this Sunday, Feb. 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Super Bowl 50. The Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots in a 20-18 showdown that went to the last second to win the AFC Championship. It was fourth and goal with twelve seconds and Tom Brady connected with his favorite target Rob Gronkowski, who was covered by two defenders in the back of the end zone, to set up the potential tie. The Patriots went for the two and were denied. Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib stepped in front of Brady’s pass and deflected the ball upwards. Bradley Roby just caught it and the celebrating began for the Broncos. Peyton Manning is now 3-1 versus Tom Brady when the AFC title is on the line.
In the NFC, Cam Newton and the Panthers have been rolling ever since the playoffs started. They beat the Cardinals 49-15 to win the NFC Championship. Carolina played great on both sides of the ball. Cam Newton had two passing touchdowns to go along with 355 yards. Cory Brown and Cam Newton tore the Arizona secondary apart. Brown had four receptions for 113 yards and Greg Olson added six receptions for 113 yards. The Panthers defense had six turnovers and one on special teams against the highly ranked Arizona offense. The Panthers scored 49 points, which was the most points allowed by Arizona this season.
This will be the first Super Bowl for Cam Newton and second for the Panthers franchise, who lost their previous appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII against New England. Denver, on the other hand, has made it a habit of going to the Super Bowl, reaching the big game for a record-tying eighth time. The Broncos are 2-5 in their previous seven Super Bowls.