My takeaway from the Super Bowl is that on Sunday, February 7, the career of Peyton Manning was finally and rightfully validated. Out of all the greatness of Peyton Manning, five NFL MVPS, most touchdown passes and passing yards of any QB in NFL history, single season touchdown and passing yard records, the two things that critics and doubters could say are: 1. Peyton Manning has a losing record in the playoffs (11-13) and 2. Peyton Manning has only won one Super Bowl in his career while other greats like Tom Brady and Joe Montana have won multiple titles.
There was a point in the season where Peyton Manning, looking broken down and beaten due to injury, may never be able to accomplish either of the two obstacles that have been plaguing what was already an outstanding football career as he was benched for the much younger Brock Osweiler.
But, in Week 17, with the Broncos season on the line, they would once again turn to Peyton Manning and ask him to save their season. And he would do just that, leading his team to a victory against the Broncos and securing the all-important home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
He would then quarterback his team through the Steelers in the divisional round to move his playoff record to 12-13. Even then, the doubters said that without Antonio Brown and with Ben Roethlisberger playing with one arm, the Broncos should have won the game.
With the win, Peyton would once again have to attempt to get through his biggest rivals: Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. In the AFC Championship game, Peyton Manning would outplay his rival, throwing two touchdowns en route to a climatic 20-18 win, moving his record to 13-13 and giving him his fourth AFC Championship title.
But, in order to truly silence all doubt, he had to win the big one. Before Sunday’s game against Carolina, there were not a lot of people picking the Broncos to win the Super Bowl. Heck, I didn’t even pick them to win the Super Bowl.
Carolina was the younger team with the MVP leading the team along with a defense that featured multiple All-Pro defensive players. But, once again, Peyton Manning and the vaunted Denver Broncos defense would prove a lot of people wrong and win the Super Bowl against the Carolina Panthers in convincing fashion.
The win would push Peyton Manning’s playoff record to 14-13 and give him the second Super Bowl of his legendary career. Despite what you may say about his performance in the big game, what you cannot deny any longer is that Peyton Manning, who may retire following this Super Bowl win, not only belongs in the conversation, but should be placed at the top of the list of best quarterbacks to ever play the game. Ahead of Montana. Ahead of Brady. If only for one night, there is no denying: Peyton Manning is the greatest quarterback of all time.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor
This Super Bowl was a special one in my eyes due to the story being told through it. You had the young, up-and-coming Cam Newton looking to win his first ring, while cementing his in football history.
At the other hand, you had an old timer in Peyton Manning, who was looking to win one more ring before he rides off in the sunset.
The way it all transpired, it was sad to see Newton and the panthers break down after the Super Bowl loss, but it was so nice to see Manning to get a final ring to ride off into the sunset happy, and also finally tie his brother Eli.
Despite the lackluster halftime show, and declining quality of Super Bowl commercials, Super Bowl 50 gets a huge plus from me.
Kenneth Washington
Deputy Sports Editor
Super Bowl? More like Super Bored, am I right? All joking aside, I think this was easily one of the most boring Super Bowls I’ve ever sat through. Which is a shame, too. Considering that this matchup was supposed to be the best offense in the league (the Carolina Panthers) vs. the best defense in the league (the Denver Broncos), I was expecting more of a chess game to played out on the gridiron. Man, was I wrong.
I suppose I should mention that this is probably Peyton Manning’s last game. In a lot of ways, even that was spoiled for me as well. Much of this effort by the Denver Broncos rested squarely on the shoulders of Denver’s A+ defense. Most of the plays run by Denver’s offense were boring run plays that seldom resulted in cinematic and thrilling moments. For Denver it was a game of inches that turned into a game of yards.
Despite some great throws by Cam Newton on the Carolina offense, the Panther’s offensive line was just too porous and Newton found himself hitting the ground a lot (though it’s worth mentioning Manning also spent a lot of time on the ground).
I felt bad for Newton. I like him a lot. He’s got spirit and he’s proud of it and I hate seeing people with that kind of spirit getting deflated. In the newsroom a few weeks ago, I was talking to our sports guys about the game and I was the only one who even thought the Broncos could pull of the upset against the Panthers, who were favored by six points going into the big game.
However, by the eleven-hundredth time I had to hear all the pomp and circumstance surrounding Manning, I was kind of hoping he’d lose just to deflate everyone’s balloon (I was so tempted to make that a Tom Brady joke). I really love Peyton Manning. He’s one of my favorite quarterbacks of all time. But, let’s be honest: the Manning we saw in Super Bowl 50 wasn’t as fun to watch as he used to be.
He’s still a great team leader and he’s got a personality that is hard to match, but I can’t help but feel like had the Broncos played a team with a better defense (like, let’s say, the Seattle Seahawks) this game would’ve probably gone a different direction than it did, and maybe a more interesting direction.
Brian Laughran
Editor-in-Chief