The 50th iteration of the Super Bowl is around the corner between the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers. Its shaping up to be a battle between the veteran nearing the end of his career, Peyton Manning and the young rising star Cam Newton. So how will it shape up? Lets get to the position by position breakdown.
Kicker:
(DEN) Brandon McManus
30/35 FGs, 85.7%, 52 long, 5 50+, 35/36 XPs
(CAR) Graham Gano
30/36 FGs, 83.3%, 52 long, 2 50+, 56/59 XPs
Both kickers appear to be fairly solid. Even though he plays in the better kicking environment, I give a slight edge to McManus
Edge: Denver
Punter:
(DEN) Britton Colquitt
84 punts, 43.6avg, 22 in 20, 39.7net avg
(CAR) Brad Nortman
70 punts, 45.4avg, 20 in 20, 39.8net avg
Despite the altitude advantage in Denver, Nortman actually has the better numbers here.
Edge: Carolina
Returners:
(DEN) Emmanuel Sanders
17 punt returns, 103yds, 14 long
Andre Caldwell
7 kick returns, 162yds, 29 long
(CAR) Ted Ginn Jr
27 punt returns, 277yds, 37 long
Fozzy Whittaker
9 kick returns, 209yds, 33 long
There's some questions about Whittaker's health, but Ginn can be explosive whenever he gets the ball.
Edge: Carolina
FS:
(DEN) Darian Stewart
63 comb tckls, 1FF, 1INT, 10PD
(CAR) Kurt Coleman
90 comb tckls, 7INTs, 1sck, 9PD
Coleman seemed to be the more active safety in this match-up.
Edge: Carolina
SS:
(DEN) T.J Ward
61 comb tckls, 2FF, 2scks, 6PD
(CAR) Roman Harper
73comb tckls, 5PD
The more active safety here was T.J Ward for the Broncos
Edge: Denver
CB:
(DEN) Aqib Talib
45 comb tckls, 3 INTs, 13PD
Chris Harris Jr
58 comb tckls, 2FF, 2INTs, 6PD
(CAR) Robert McClain
7 comb tckls, 1INT, 1PD
Josh Norman
56 comb tckls, 3FF, 4INTs, 18PD
This is quite an interesting match-up. On one hand, Norman is the best overall CB from this batch, but the Broncos have more depth with Talib and Harris Jr.
Edge: Denver
MLB:
(DEN) Brandon Marshall
102 comb tckls, 2FF, 1INT, 1.5scks
Danny Trevathan
109 comb tckls, 2INTs
(CAR) Luke Kuechly
118 comb tckls, 2FF, 4INTs, 1sck
The inside linebackers for the Broncos are both solid, but Kuechly is almost like if Troy Polamalu was a LB, he's just all over the field.
Edge: Carolina
OLB:
(DEN) Von Miller
35 comb tckls, 4FF, 11scks
DeMarcus Ware
25 comb tckls, 1FF, 7.5scks
(CAR) Shaq Thompson
50 comb tckls, 1sck
Thomas Davis
105 comb tckls, 4FF, 4INTs, 5.5scks
There's some questions about Thomas Davis coming off an arm fracture. He certainly is a force at full health, but there's no questioning the Broncos depth of Miller and ex-Cowboy Ware.
Edge: Denver
DE:
(DEN) Derek Wolfe
49 comb tckls, 5.5scks
Malik Jackson
45 comb tckls, 5scks
(CAR) Charles Johnson
12comb tckls, 1sck
Jared Allen
32 comb tckls, 2scks, 1INT
The Panthers have a pair of solid veterans (but like Thomas Davis, there's some injury concerns with Jared Allen). The Broncos seem to have the more consistent pass rushers here.
Edge: Denver
DT:
(DEN) Sylvester Williams
25 comb tckls, 3scks
(CAR) Star Lotuleiei
22 comb tckls, 1FF, 1sck
Kawann Short
55 comb tckls, 3FF, 11scks
Sylvester and Star are fairly similar, but its Short that makes all the difference here. He's simply a force on that defensive line.
Edge: Carolina
OL:
(DEN) Ryan Harris/Evan Mathis/Matt Paradis/Louis Vasquez/Michael Schofield
1,718 rush yds, 4.2avg, 39 scks, 97 QB hits
(CAR) Michael Oher/Andrew Norwell/Ryan Kalil/Trai Turner/Mike Remmers
2,282 rush yds, 4.3avg, 33 scks, 61 QB hits
The Broncos OL will have a big test in fending off the Panthers and keeping Peyton upright, but they could be up to the task, Meanwhile, it seems it hasn't mattered who's running the ball, the Panthers just find a way to create running lanes.
Edge: Carolina
TE:
(DEN) Owen Daniels
46 rec, 517yds, 3TDs
(CAR) Greg Olsen
77 rec, 1,104yds, 7TDs, 1F/FL
Daniels is a nice TE, but besides maybe just Gronk, you could make the case that Olsen is one of the most dynamic TEs in the league.
Edge: Carolina
WR:
(DEN) Demaryius Thomas
105rec, 1,304yds, 6TDs, 2F/2FL
Emmanuel Sanders
76rec, 1,135yds, 6TDs, 1F/1FL
(CAR) Ted Ginn Jr
44 rec, 739yds, 10TDs
Corey Brown
31rec, 447yds, 4TDs
The lack of top flight WRs has made what Cam Newton has done this season even more impressive. On the other-side, the Broncos have a pair of high quality receivers in Thomas and Sanders. They may have some problems with drops (especially this season), but they're the WRs I'd want.
Edge: Denver
FB:
(DEN) Virgil Green
12rec, 173yds, 1TD
(CAR) Mike Tolbert
62ATT, 256yds, 1TD/ 18rec, 154yds, 3TDs
Green is more of a TE than a typical FB. On the other-side, Tolbert is power-back lining up at FB that's capable of those goal-line situations.
Edge: Carolina
RB:
(DEN) Ronnie Hillman
207ATT, 863yds, 7TDs/ 24rec, 111yds, 3F/1FL
CJ Anderson
152ATT, 720yds, 5TDs/ 25rec, 183yds, 2F/2FL
(CAR) Jonathan Stewart
242ATT, 989yds, 6TDs/ 16rec, 99yds, 1TD, 3F/2FL
I included Hillman and Anderson because they've both been used pretty evenly for the Broncos running game. They'll both be key as there are some questions on how far down-field Peyton can throw right now. Stewart is a solid back in his own right, but had a few injury problems down the stretch (but appears to be fine now).
Edge: Denver
QB:
(DEN) Peyton Manning
67.9 rating, 198-331, 59.8 compl %, 2.249yds 9TDs/17INTs, 6ATT, -6yds
(CAR) Cam Newton
94.4 rating, 296-455, 59.8 compl %, 3,837yds, 35TDs/10INTs, 132ATT, 636yds, 10TDs
This might be a different scenario if we were talking about the Peyton Manning of a couple years ago, but there's no doubting that he slowed down this season. Cam Newton though had a MVP-caliber season. He's a dual threat in passing and running. He's pretty amazing the speed he has considering he has the body of a LB. There's really no question on who has the edge here.
Edge: Carolina
Prediction: The general thought from some pundits points to a Carolina blowout. I think its going to be a lot closer than that......but still a Carolina victory. A high-scoring game would certainly favor Carolina, but you can't count out the Broncos defense which stymied the Patriots in the AFC Championship game. Of course its a tougher task to try and stop Cam Newton, which is why I think it'll be just too much for them in the end.
27-20 Carolina
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