Posted on 02/09/2016 9:58:58 AM PST by Jim W N
“Ranking the reasons for Denver’s Super Bowl 50 upset”
Upset?
Nah! When the Super Bowl was going to be Carolina vs. Denver I told my wife, “Denver is going to win!”
She asked, “How do you know?”
I said, “Defense!” She laughed and said that she thought that Carolina was going to sweep the floor with Denver and attributed the win to Carolina’s QB and their solid defense. I told her, “Newton is going to fold like a cheap, pocket knife”. She laughed again.
After the game she asked me how I knew.
I said, “Offense is just to excite the crowd. Defense wins ball games!” She just shook her head. ;-)
The disappointing game was eclipsed only by the worst Super Bowl half-time show I think I’ve seen.
Yep.... it’s difficult to commit to the run for an entire game, when you’re only making a yard and a half per carry.
Yes, of course, Denver’s defense is superb. But we didn’t get to see the matchup we should have seen. A great running offense against a great running defense.
I attribute what happened to it being the first time the Carolina coach and offense coordinator had been to the Super Bowl. What coaches new to the Super Bowl tend to do is think they’ve got to be more than who they really are, especially if they are a weak passing team. How many times we’ve seen strong running teams in the Super Bowl abandon their strength because of nervous coaches who think they have to score quickly by passing when they don’t have a good passing team.
I have yet to hear anyone talk about the fact that Carolina was one of the lousiest passing teams in the NFL this year but the 2nd best running team. The Carolina coaches got caught up in the Super Bowl hype and forgot who they were.
I think there’d have been more running if the passing game had been more successful. Some big passes and catches were flubbed or blocked. If the D line has confidence in the backfield they can play runs very tight.
So: there were a lot of pass plays- because they were unsuccessful.
Their running game was basically and inexplicably absent the imaginative double and triple options and misdirection plays that made Carolina the #1 scoring team in the NFL this season. It’s obvious even after two weeks of prep that the coaching staff missed the boat and revolved their game plan around their anemic passing game and failed as late as half time to realize and adjust for their mistakes.
It boils down to this:
Old age and treachery wins out over youth and enthusiasm every time. When it really counts, experience really matters.
Again, Carolina was one of the lousiest passing teams in the NFL this year but the 2nd best running team.
How did Carolina beat the #1 Defense against scoring in the NFL - Seattle? They ran 65% of the time and they executed a game plan that ran FIRST and then sprinkled in passes. That was the right game plan and should have been used against Denver but inexplicably was not.
Maybe... it seemed they tried the option plays several times with no success. It seemed Denver knew how and had the manpower to shut the option down. They were able to commit enough defenders to stop the run because Cam Newton was not capable of beating them by throwing the ball. And, Cam was not able to check off to a different play with any success.
Yep, the #1 reason the Panthers lost is because Cam is not an NFL caliber QB. Like Kaepernick & RGIII before him, a quarterback who cannot read the defense and adjust accordingly has a short life-span.
Denver demonstrated how to defeat a run-first QB just like previous defenses had shown with SF & DC. Next year is going to be hard on Cam unless he spends the off season studying very hard. (Likewise for Kap & RG - I still think they can possibly play, but time is running out.)
It seems the only mobile person from the current generation who has transitioned is Russel Wilson. Like Rodgers, he uses his mobility to enhance his ability to play QB, not as a crutch when defensive schemes overwhelm & confuse him.
They actually had good success when they ran the option which was rare - hardly at all. The first time they ran it in the first half they gained about 12 yards.
The pass was never going to help them much because again, Carolina was one of the lousiest passing teams in the NFL this year but the 2nd best running team.
Carolina didn’t forget. The Denver defense dictated what the Panthers could do. All season Carolina averaged 4.4 yds on 1st down giving them short 2nd and 3rd downs. It was those short yardage situations where Newton ate defenses up with the read option. Denver shut down the 1st down running game forcing Carolina to pass on 2nd and 3rd and long. That enabled the Denver d-line to pin it’s ears back and go after the QB. They also used a LB to spy Newton most of the 1st half.
I’m not putting it well, but the pass and run calls are interdependent.
If Cam had had the 73% completion rate he had against Seattle he’d have thrown a lot less against Denver.
Yet Carolina had fewer loses than Denver. Amazing.
There was a poll taken on the main NFL website in regards to the half-time show and I would not be surprised if the majority did not like it.
TV ratings peaked at halftime...I doubt it was to see Bill Cowher and Boomer Esiason.
Really?
http://www.tvguide.com/news/did-super-bowl-50-break-ratings-records/
Viewership peaked during the 8:30 - 9 p.m. half hour, when 115.5 million viewers watched Beyoncé steal the halftime show.
Offense for show. Defense for dough.
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