John Holton
Staff Writer

This past Sunday was a Super Bowl of story lines and the NFL got their storybook ending from it when Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina panthers 24-10. This was an ideal ending for many as one of the main story lines was whether or not Manning could overcome his career long struggles in the playoffs and make his way to another ring. In the end Manning got the ring, but it was the Broncos defense that did the overcoming.

Being the 50th Super Bowl the game was already extremely hyped up but there was more than just that number that added to the excitement. On the one side you had the Denver Broncos led by Manning, the all time passing yards leader, as well as their stellar defense that some would argue is the best to ever play the game. On the other you had the Carolina Panthers, a team that has never won a Super Bowl, and their quarterback Cam Newton, who dominated in the regular season and won the MVP award. If that was not enough the age difference between the two QBs was the greatest in Super Bowl history.

The Broncos were the first team to get on the board when they stormed down the field on their first drive only to be stopped short of a touchdown, settling for a field goal instead. A failed drive and punt for each team followed before Carolina got the ball for the second time at their own 15 yard line. After two plays by the Panthers that gained no yardage Broncos linebacker Von Miller knocked the ball away from Cam Newton and it was recovered in the end zone by defensive end Malik Jackson for a Broncos touchdown.

The rest of the game would be much of the same as the Broncos defense put on maybe the best defensive Super Bowl performance ever, in the end holding the Panthers to just one touchdown and one field goal. The Broncos on the other hand would tack on two more field goals and a final touchdown that resulted from another Newton fumble and sealed the game for Denver.

Von Miller was awarded the Super Bowl MVP award for his six tackle 2.5 sack game that included two strips of Cam Newton. Maybe the most surprising part of the Broncos victory was Peyton Manning’s response to questions about his retirement. Instead of announcing that this would be his final game he said he still needed time to think about his future in the NFL.

Photo courtesy of NFL Twitter @NFL