random unsystematic "superbowl 50 articles" thread

Getting Down to Business

Peter King

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/02/01/nfl-super-bowl-50-john-elway-broncos-gm-father-jack-elway

Before building the Broncos into a winner, John Elway cut his teeth in player personnel by watching his father. Plus, the Joy of Cam, Marvin Harrison vs. T.O. in Hall of Fame voting, Doug Williams recalls the greatest quarter in Super Bowl history and more from San Francisco as Super Bowl week kicks off
By Peter King

SAN FRANCISCO — So I was out early one morning last week on the east side of New York to walk Lucy the dog (we are caring for my daughter’s 13-year-old Shepherd/Lab mix), and one of the sanitation guys on recycling duty saw me and struck up a conversation about the Super Bowl. “I want Peyton to win it,” he said. “I want to see him ride off into the sunset on top.”

“A lot of people want that,” I said.

“I don’t think he’ll do it,” the guy said. “But if he doesn’t, that’s okay. It’ll be like the passing of the torch to Cam.”

“You just wrote a story for me!” I told him.

Isn’t that the perfect way to sum up the biggest storyline of Super Bowl 50? A great endgame for 39-year-old Peyton Manning, the classic pocket quarterback, or a perfect way for Cam Newton, 26, the new all-around quarterback, to take the world stage. In the 50th Super Bowl, an additional historic element accompanies the narrative, in what is likely the last game of Manning’s life.

There’s a lot of other stuff at play here too: A second Super Bowl win would be needed legacy fodder for Manning; one world title in 17 years leaves him shy of the greats … Ron Rivera trying to join his mentor, Mike Ditka, as one of four men to play in a Super Bowl and coach the winning team in one … Newton trying to join Russell Wilson as the second athlete/quarterback to win the Super Bowl in the last three games—and also cementing his spot alongside Wilson atop the next generation of great quarterbacks … John Elway attempting to be the first Super Bowl MVP turned Super Bowl champion architect … And this one:

Three years ago, if these two quarterbacks met in this game, it might have been advertised as a young David (Newton) versus Goliath (Manning). Now it’s the other way around. Newton is Goliath. Manning is David, sort of. Newton is at the top of the NFL game, throwing and running, and Manning is trying to squeeze one more classic performance (and not turn it over) out of a body that’s been betraying him most of the season. Until September, in every NFL game he’d played, Manning had been The Man. Now he’s The Complementary Man. Life changes.

But I think I speak for members of both defenses—Carolina’s, which has forced nine turnovers in eight playoff quarters, and the Tom Brady-wrecking Denver D—when I say they believe they could well be the stars six nights from now. In fact, I’ll let Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr., do the talking.

“Hey,” Harris said, “we’re Goliaths on this defense.”

I’m sure Josh Norman, his Panther counterpart, would say the same thing.

Plenty of Super Bowl 50 fodder to come at The MMQB, today and all week. We’ve got great stuff planned, including from our road trip across America, weaving great Super Bowl tales from Maine to California, some of the best storytelling in the three-season history of our site. (Our crew is in Texas today.)

The Panthers and Broncos hunkered down an hour south of here after arriving Sunday—the Broncos are Santa Clara, 43 miles from San Francisco, and the Panthers are San Jose, 51 miles away. The teams will meet the masses tonight for the first Media Night in Super Bowl history, at 8 p.m. ET at the SAP Center, home of the San Jose Sharks, in downtown San Jose. A quick briefing on the logistics here.

• Denver. The Broncos, who landed in San Jose at 4:45 p.m. PT Sunday, are staying just down the street from Levi’s Stadium, and practicing 14 miles away at Stanford’s practice fields and Stanford Stadium, if desired. They will practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Stanford, and have a walk-through practice on Saturday morning, 11 a.m., at Levi’s Stadium, as is their normal custom. They’ll meet the media at their hotel on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, then be cloistered after that until Sunday.

• Carolina. The Panthers landed in San Jose shortly after the Broncos. They are bunking in downtown San Jose and practicing nearby, at the San Jose State University practice fields—the same site the Ravens used this year when they stayed in the Bay Area on the occasion of back-to-back western games. The team will use the Spartans’ facilities, including the weight room and trainers’ room, for about five hours each day. Same thing as Denver on the media plans, and the post-Thursday cloistering. The Panthers will hold their Saturday walk-through at Levi’s Stadium at 1 p.m.

• NFL crappola. The NFL and most of the press will be HQ’d in downtown San Francisco. NFL Honors, the annual league awards show, will originate from downtown on Saturday, as will the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame voting, also on Saturday.

Now on to the normal Monday business of MMQB, starting with one of Stanford’s famous alums, going home this week.

* * *

The story of John Elway, architect.

There haven’t been a lot of superstar players who built championship teams. Jerry West with the Lakers, Ozzie Newsome with the Ravens … who else? Larry Bird couldn’t do it. Michael Jordan couldn’t. Elway just might be able to. This is the second time in his five seasons running the franchise that Denver’s been in a Super Bowl. Since 2012, the Broncos have the best record in football, and 21 of the 22 starters have arrived under Elway’s watch, which began in 2011.

Amazing when you think about it. West and Newsome might be it. Elway’s trying to join the championship crowd. If he does, it just might then be only West and Elway who won at least one world title as players, made the Hall of Fame, and constructed world championship teams. We really might be seeing something special if Denver wins.

But what’s the thing you almost always hear from players of the past 20 or 30 years, in all sports, when the subject of coaching or scouting or managing or general-managing comes up. No way I’m putting in all that time. Fourteen-hour days? Not happening.

Then there’s Elway, son of a coach, for a while. Son of a scout, for a while. Son of a director of pro personnel, for a while. He saw the business, and, in a strange, ironic twist of fate, spent most of the last month of Jack Elway’s life with him learning that business. John Elway had no idea that would train him for the life he’s living right now.

“My first introduction to this life,” Elway said in Denver the other day, “came in 2001, when I sat in with my Dad, who was the Broncos’ pro personnel director, for a month of pre-draft meetings. Mike Shahanan let me sit in on the meetings. I had sold my car dealers to AutoNation, and I was looking to figure out what I might want to do.

That month was a great bonding time for me and my dad, hours and hours of meetings, and a great learning experience for me. I remember this lesson from him: Teams are 80 percent players, and 20 percent coaches. He taught me how important athleticism was, and how important competitive drive was. In that draft, I’ll never forget—he loved Drew Brees. He had that competitive fire. And now look at him. That really was a great month for me.”

Recalled Shanahan: “Jack Elway was always excellent in those meetings. He really had a sense for players. And so for John, who was always around that life, and very close to his Dad, it was a perfect scenario if you want to grow up to be a GM.”

The meetings ended, and Jack Elway went home to Palm Springs, where he planned to retire after that 2001 draft. Then, on April 15, a week before the draft, Jack Elway died of a heart attack at his home. “I don’t know if it was meant to be,” John Elway said, “but I am so grateful I got to spend that time with my dad before he passed.”

Elway cut his teeth in Arena Football, running the Colorado Crush (with 25-man rosters) from 2003 to ’08. When Elway was asked by owner Pat Bowlen to run the football side of the Broncos in 2011, Elway accepted, and he remembered some of those lessons from his dad. Draft speed. Look for guys who love football. And, of course, get a quarterback.

Would Manning have come to Denver had Elway not been running the show? I have my doubts, but we’ll never know. Elway’s first draft pick was Von Miller. In his first big free-agency season, 2013, Elway signed DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward, all impact players on the current strong defense. Some Elwayisms:

• “We don’t draft All-Pros. We develop All-Pros.”

• “Speed kills. But not 40 speed. Play speed. A guy’s 40 speed might be 4.8, but look at his instincts and how he reacts to plays—that might get his true speed down to 4.6.”

• “My priority is getting guys with desire and a real heart for football. Chris Harris Jr., came in here undrafted. [The college free-agent from Kansas was the final signee before training camp in 2011 for Elway, for a $2,000 bonus.] He comes in, and right away he’s first in line in every drill. His character, his football traits, turned out to be so strong.”

• “We cherish the bottom of the draft. We cannot afford to miss a draft, because we want to be good for a long time here, and teams that are good for a long time do not miss drafts.”

“They just told me to come in here and compete and I’d have a chance,” said Harris. “They were right. I was the 11th cornerback out of 11 on the depth chart. That’s one of the things I’ve liked about being here—it doesn’t matter who you are. They bring in a ton of undrafted guys, late-round guys. If you’re the best, he [Elway] will keep you.”

The Broncos, under Elway, have tried to not have hard-and-fast personnel rules. Denver went wild in free agency in 2013 but not in any other year. The Broncos like to bottom-feed for players, and if you’re on the camp roster, you’ve got a legit chance to make it. Linebacker Brandon Marshall was cut by Jacksonville three times, but he’s slid into an important starting role for Denver—and it was Marshall covering swift New England back James White on many of White’s 16 targets from Tom Brady (only five of them completed) in the AFC title game last week. Sixth-round linebacker Danny Trevathan has become a vital sideline-to-sideline player.

There’s one other thing Elway has learned. It’s something that was reinforced last summer, when he went to Peyton Manning and told him he was going to have to take a $4-million pay cut. Yes, the quarterback who was Denver’s lifeline back in 2012, who was the key to being in contention every year—a big paycut. That ended up allowing Denver to sign a starting guard before the season, Evan Mathis, and Manning has since made back $2 million of it, by winning the AFC title game.

(The other $2 million will come back to Manning if Denver wins the Super Bowl.) But it was no easy thing. “I don’t get too close to the players,” Elway said. “Because I know I might have to make tough decisions, I know I can’t be their best friend. I’ve got to be the bad guy at times. If it’s best for the Denver Broncos, I don’t worry about personal feelings. I can’t.”

Shanahan wanted to illustrate Elway’s feelings about winning. So he said he was going to tell a story he has never told before. In 1993, after Shanahan’s first year on the San Francisco coaching staff, Bowlen offered him the Denver head-coaching job. But they were $150,000 per year in salary and a company car apart from Shanahan’s bottom line, and Shanahan was holding firm. Elway found out.

Elway said he’d pay him the $150,000 a year, and he’d provide the car Shanahan wanted. “You’re coming,” Elway said. Shanahan felt he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t have the quarterback paying part of his compensation. So Shanahan stayed in San Francisco. Wade Phillips coached the team for two years, then Bowlen got Shanahan to come, finally, in 1995.

“John didn’t talk to me for a year,” Shanahan said.

I gave Elway a chance to puff his chest a little about having the best winning percentage in football over the past four years, and taking his team to the Super Bowl twice in that time. He said he was proud, yes, of competing for the title every year. But he built this team to win, and he made it clear the job’s not done. Of course, Elway was the quarterback on three Denver Super Bowl teams that lost in the Super Bowl, before he won his final two. Getting to the Big One is good. It’s just not good enough. It might be corny. But it’s certainly how Elway feels.

Said Shanahan, “John knows this more than anybody: Nobody cares who finishes second.”

* * *

Can unbridled joy be unsportsmanlike?

Three stories you’ll be sick of by game time Sunday:

• Win one for Peyton.

• Cam Newton revolutionizing the quarterback position.

• The Cam Newton Joy Referendum.

I’ll say what I’ve said several times this year: At a time in NFL history when there is so much to criticize, and when the concussion/head-trauma issue is such a lightning rod that tens of thousands of parents across the country are weighing whether to let their children play football, here comes a man who exudes joy on the field 10, 15, 20 times a game. He smiles, he gestures, he poses, he hands footballs to small children and makes their days. (Years, in many cases.)

So I not only don’t have a problem with it. I like it. I know there is a divide on this. I get it. Some people feel it’s showing up the opposition. In a traditional way, maybe it is. When I coached girls softball, I would not have wanted my girls to celebrate by stopping on the field after a great play and pretending to be Superman. If other teams did it to us, I’d have been ticked off. So I realize there’s a disconnect here. I just find it hard to think what Newton does is bush. It’s joyous.

Newton is a player who does everything right inside his team. He studies the game and has the kind of relationship with offensive coordinator Mike Shula that Shula freely, every week, adds and subtracts to the gameplan based on what Newton tells him he likes and doesn’t like. The trust between them isn’t phony. He is so on top of his game that—and this is the first time I remember seeing this—he drew Washington defensive lineman offside on consecutive plays in November.

How will a defense as aggressive and impactful as Denver’s defense play it when, as he did also against Washington, Newton goes under center, takes the snap, fakes a quick sideline throw to Ted Ginn, holds the defense with a play-action fake to Jonathan Stewart, stares briefly at Greg Olsen on a short curl over the middle, then rips a throw to the right sideline to rookie Devin Funchess for a gain of 11? I only mention those examples to show you this isn’t a hey-look-at-me guy who doesn’t back up his bravado with homework and preparation and practiced skill.

As Shula told me a few weeks ago: “Sometimes, I think we need to remind ourselves that football is fun, and when we have fun and we’re winning, we’re happy. I would never want to change his personality.”

Good for him.

Former Rams well represented at Super Bowl 50

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/26579/former-rams-well-represented-at-super-bowl

EARTH CITY, Mo. — The Los Angeles Rams’ 2015 season ended sooner than they would have liked as they went home for the winter following a loss to San Francisco in the finale.

But for some who have spent time in the horns, there’s one more game to play this season and it’s the biggest one of all: Super Bowl 50. The Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers will meet Sunday for the ultimate prize.

Each team has former Rams dotting the roster and coaching staff. Here’s a look at who they are and the roles they could play in the big game:

Broncos

FS Darian Stewart — Stewart has been battling a knee injury but was back at practice on Wednesday. He’s emerged as a key component in Denver’s secondary and will be needed again as one of the last lines of defense against Carolina quarterback Cam Newton & Co. Stewart signed with the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2010 and flashed promise with the team but simply couldn’t stay healthy enough to nail down a permanent job. He went to Baltimore before the 2014 season and then signed with Denver before this year. He went on to post his best season and had an interception in the AFC championship game against New England.

Defensive line coach Bill Kollar — One of the most experienced line coaches in the league now in his 26th season coaching defensive linemen, Kollar held the same title for the Rams from 2001-2005. He’s also had stops in Buffalo, Atlanta and Houston, where he worked with Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak. He was known for his loud approach on the practice field. In Denver, he’s done good work this season with the likes of Derek Wolfe, Malik Jackson and Sylvester Williams, a group that will need to be on its game Sunday for the Broncos to win.

Assistant receivers coach Marc Lubick — Lubick is in his first year with the Broncos but previously spent time working for Kubiak with the Texans. He’s come a long way from his humble beginnings as a scouting assistant for the Rams, where he worked from 2003-2004. He assists Denver receivers coach Tyke Tolbert in guiding primary Broncos wideouts Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.

Panthers

Receivers coach Ricky Proehl — There’s not a name on this list that would offer better memories to Rams fans than Proehl. He was integral in the team’s pursuit of and victory in Super Bowl XXXIV and made one of the biggest plays in franchise history with his diving touchdown catch in that year’s NFC championship game. The role of unsung hero has carried over to his coaching career. Proehl has been the Panthers’ receivers coach for the past five seasons and this year squeezed every drop out of a group that lost its primary target — Kelvin Benjamin — in the preseason. Carolina will need more of that production from the likes of Ted Ginn Jr., Jericho Cotchery, Corey Brown and Devin Funchess to come away with the world championship.

Offensive line coach John Matsko — Much like Proehl, Matsko has done a lot with a little. He took a group of mostly reclamation projects or unknowns and turned it into a unit that paves the way for the league’s No. 1 offense. That group will get its toughest test yet when the Broncos’ No. 1 defense and pass rush is on the other side. Matsko has 24 years of experience, including leading the Rams’ line from 1999-2005. He coached the group that blocked for the league’s most productive offense for three straight years from 1999-2001.

CB Cortland Finnegan — Finnegan signed with the Rams as a free agent in 2012 but was released after an injury-plagued 2013 season. He went to Miami and retired after the 2014 season only to sign with Carolina after the Panthers secondary was hit hard by injury late in the season. Finnegan had an interception against Seattle in the divisional round and played well against Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald in the NFC title game. The common assumption is that Finnegan will be targeted plenty by the Broncos but so far in these playoffs he’s answered every challenge thrown his way.

RT Mike Remmers — Rams fans can be forgiven if they don’t remember Remmers’ time with the team. It wasn’t very long and in no way memorable. Remmers spent the first part of the 2014 season on the Rams practice squad before Carolina plucked him and added him to their active roster five games into the year. He quickly became a starter and is now entrenched on the right side of the Panthers’ line. He’s been solid in this postseason but will get the ultimate challenge Sunday as the man charged with slowing down Denver pass-rusher Von Miller. If he can do that, Newton should have plenty of chances to make big plays

Cam Newton represents football’s evolution heading into Super Bowl 50

By Patrick Saunders

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_29476884/cam-newton-represents-footballs-evolution-heading-into-super-bowl-50

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Faster than a pocket quarterback, more powerful than an average linebacker and able to leap defensive lines in a single bound. Cam Newton is the NFL’s man of steel.

With apologies to Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who might be playing the final game of his career Sunday, Newton is the story leading up to Super Bowl 50.

For many, Newton represents football’s evolution, both as sports and entertainment. The Carolina Panthers’ quarterback is a chiseled 6-foot-5, 250-pound man who throws lasers and plows over defenders. He dances and dabs in the end zone. He speaks his mind. He named his infant son Chosen. He’s a lightning rod of attention.

Like other trailblazing sports figures such as Joe Namath, Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan, Newton does it all on his terms, like it or not.

“I guess you’ll have to get used to it, because I don’t plan on changing,” he said. “I know it’s going to sound cliché, but I’m just having fun. It’s been something that I’ve been doing since I was 7 years old and nothing has changed.”

Yet, for some, Newton represents what’s wrong with contemporary sports. They see arrogance in his actions, and view his end zone gyrations as disrespectful mockery of his opponents. Never mind that part of his routine since 2011 has been handing footballs to kids in the stands after he scores a touchdown.

Race is also part of how critics view him, at least in Newton’s view.

“I’m an African-American quarterback. That may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to,” he said last week.

But like him or hate him, there is no denying Newton’s incredible talent. And his charisma, which has been on full display here this week during media conferences.

“I tell you, he’s just had this incredible year. I mean, no doubt in my mind he’s going to be the MVP,” said the 39-year-old Manning. “What he’s done in the short time being an NFL quarterback, he’s been awesome. It’s the best word I can think of. He’s been a great passer, he’s been a great runner, he’s been a great leader.”

How awesome? Newton led the NFL during the regular season with 45 total touchdowns (35 passing, 10 rushing), becoming the first player in league history to pass for at least 30 touchdowns and rush for at least 10.

It’s the merrymaking after the touchdowns that has pushed some people’s buttons.

Is race a factor when it comes to Cam Newton’s popularity?
Denver Post

In November, Rosemary Plorin attended a Tennessee Titans-Panthers game with her 9-year-old daughter and sent the Charlotte Observer a letter she wrote to Newton questioning whether he was setting a good example.

“Because of where we sat, we had a close-up view of your conduct in the fourth quarter,” she wrote. “The chest puffs. The pelvic thrusts. The arrogant struts and the in-your-face taunting of both the Titans’ players and fans. We saw it all.”

The letter created a firestorm of controversy, with many saying it was racially motivated. Plorin was vilified on social media.

Newton responded to the letter by telling Carolina reporters: “Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion. Everyone is. You can’t fault her for that. If she feels offended, I apologize to her, but at the end of the day, I am who I am. It is what it is.”

(Click to enlarge)
After hearing that, Plorin softened her criticism.

Earlier this season, former Chicago Bears all-pro linebacker Brian Urlacher fired off a salvo toward Newton.

“I played defense, so I don’t like it when guys celebrate with dances and stuff,” Urlacher told USA Today. “Who I like the way he celebrates is Peyton (Manning). He kind of gives the guy a handshake and goes back to the sidelines. That’s a great celebration right there. You don’t see him dancing. Even when he gets a first down, he doesn’t do anything.”

The Broncos, however, don’t seem to object to Newton’s touchdown dances. They just don’t want to give him the chance to do them.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.
Quarterback Cam Newton (1) of the Carolina Panther addresses the media during media availability prior to Super Bowl 50 at the San Jose Convention Center on Feb. 3, 2016 in San Jose, Calif. (Thearon W. Henderson, Getty Images)
“What is my take on celebrations? I love it. I love it,” Broncos linebacker Von Miller said. “Whoever is dancing the most is probably going to win Sunday. I like to dance. I like to show emotion and celebrate with my teammates.

“Cam is the same way. I love it. I think it is great for the game. You have a younger generation that pays close attention to that, and that is what they follow. That is the future of the sport.”

Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib said he doesn’t think the fuss over Newton is a racial issue, or even a generational one.

“Man, it’s fun, I mean, but you guys may have never played,” he told the media crowded around his podium. “But if you ever played, you would get excited, you would see how fun it is. You might want to dance, too.”

Just five years into his NFL career, Newton has led the Panthers to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2003 season. He is only one victory shy of writing an impressive chapter in football history. The former Auburn star could become the first quarterback and second player to win a Heisman Trophy, college football national championship, NFL MVP award and Super Bowl.

He is transforming the way the game is played and the way it’s viewed. And yet Panthers veteran defensive end Jared Allen cautions against labeling Newton as the NFL’s prototype quarterback of the future.

“Really, how many Cam Newtons are out there?” Allen said. “The versatile offense we run, all of the looks we throw at people, that’s a testament to Cam Newton.”

As for his place in the spotlight of America’s most popular sport, Newton is ready to soak it all up, so long as it’s done on his terms.

“Whether I want it or not, the position that I’m in, I’m given a stage and what I do on that stage means a lot,” he said.”For these people that are saying, ‘Hell, I hate Cam,’ I’m going to stay true to who I am and try to fulfill the things that are important to me.”

7 things to watch: Super Bowl Sunday

Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/things-to-watch-super-bowl-sunday/article_584f2257-b038-5475-b17a-e5c43df2d599.html

The No. 1 storyline of the game. Will it be the coming out party for young Cam Newton? Or the last rodeo for Peyton Manning? It could be both. Manning gets by on savvy more than skill these days, but has played better in the playoffs and certainly won’t be intimidated by the big stage. Newton, 13 years younger than Manning at age 26, is simply the best player in the NFL at this time — strong-armed, fleet-footed, and brimming with confidence. He accounted for a league-high 45 TDs this season passing and rushing.

THE DEFENSES
The QBs get most of the attention, but when all is said and done the defenses may have more to say about who wins this one. Led by pass-rushing bookends Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, plus a pair of Pro Bowl corners in Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, Denver has the league’s top-ranked total defense and passing defense. Carolina isn’t far behind, ranking sixth in total defense and fourth in run defense. Sorry J.J. Watt (and Aaron Donald), but Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly may be the NFL’s best defender.

TURNOVER TALE
During the regular season, Carolina led the league in takeaways (39) and takeaway-giveaway differential (plus-20). That hasn’t changed in the postseason, with the Panthers tops with nine takeaways and at plus-8. Keep in mind, Manning threw 17 interceptions in the regular season, tied for second-most in the NFL. And the Panthers don’t just take the ball away, they take it to the end zone. Including the playoffs, Carolina has a league-high six INT returns for touchdowns. Kuechly has two “pick 6s” in the postseason.

CLOSE CALLS
Carolina outscored its opponents 266-121 in the first half during the regular season. In the playoffs, it’s even more lopsided at 55-7. But if the Broncos can avoid getting steamrolled in the first half, look out. Their defense keeps them in games, and Manning has a long career’s worth of experience closing things out. The Broncos are comfortable living on the edge. During the regular season and postseason, Denver is 11-3 in games decided by seven points or less. Those 11 such victories are an NFL record.

X-FACTORS
OK, he’s no Rob Gronkowski, but Carolina TE Greg Olsen is a force, with 89 catches for 1,294 yards and eight TDs in the regular season plus playoffs. He never leaves the field, lines up everywhere, and has great rapport with Newton. Meanwhile for Denver, WR Demaryius Thomas is the first Bronco to log four consecutive 1,200-yard seasons and just the second with back-to-back 100-catch campaigns. But he has only six catches this postseason and should get aggressive press coverage from Panthers CB Josh Norman.

GROUND FORCES
Carolina had the No. 2-ranked run offense behind the power running of Jonathan Stewart, the ultra-power running of fireplug Mike Tolbert, and the short-yardage and improv stylings of Newton. The Panthers were among only four teams that ran more than they passed. Denver ranked 17th in run offense, and has been worse in the playoffs averaging 3.3 yards per carry and 104 yards per game with the tandem of C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman. This could be the biggest matchup mismatch of Super Bowl Sunday.

GO FIGURE
A mere two seasons ago, Cortland Finnegan was an opening-day starter and Darian Stewart started six games for a nondescript Rams secondary that finished 19th in pass defense and 28th in yards per pass. They have featured roles in Super Bowl 50: Stewart starts at free safety for Denver; Finnegan is Carolina’s nickel back. Wait — there’s more. Mike Remmers, buried on the Rams’ practice squad in 2014, is the starting right tackle for a Carolina offensive line that bullied Seattle and Arizona in the playoffs.