Super Bowl Review

Jared Vaccarella, Staff Writer

Super Bowl Sunday in the Bay Area had finally arrived. After two weeks of press conferences, storylines, controversies, and predictions, the game the NFL had been waiting fifty years for was finally here.

The two main storylines, as they are apt to often do, focused on the quarterbacks for each side. Would Peyton Manning retire after this game? Would he go out a champion? Would Cam Newton end a brilliant MVP season with a Super Bowl Ring, and become the youngest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl?

After Lady Gaga sang the National Anthem and hours of pregame shows were over, Carolina kicked off to Denver, and the game began. The focus on the quarterbacks ultimately proved to be ill led. Defense would dominate the entire game, with the Denver defense having the lone touchdown until late in the fourth quarter.

Denver kicked a field goal its first drive, a 34-yarder from Brandon McManus, with Peyton Manning looking cool and collected, in steep contrast to his last Super Bowl. After trading punts, the first big play of the game happened. Von Miller forced a Cam Newton fumble and Malik Johnson recovered it in the end zone, giving Denver momentum and a 10-0 lead.

However, in the second quarter, Carolina got back on track with a 9-play, 73-yard drive culminating in a Jonathan Stewart touchdown run. After several more punts and stout defense from both sides, Jordan Norwood nearly had the first punt return touchdown in Super Bowl history, taking the return down to the Panthers’ 14-yard line. However, another superb defensive effort from the Panthers held Denver to a field goal, and when Coldplay performed, it was 13-7.

On the first drive of the second half, Newton led his team down the field in a hurry, on a 45-yard pass to Ted Ginn Jr., but failed to move the ball from there and had to settle for a field goal. Further, Graham Gano’s kick attempt struck the upright and the score remained 13-7. After Peyton Manning took over and completed two long passes to Emmanuel Sanders, McManus hit another field goal, and it was 16-7 as the third quarter came to a close.

With 4:51 left in the game and the score now 16-10 after a Gano field goal, Newton had a chance to drive down the field and take the lead, but Denver’s defense saved the game when Von Miller stripped Newton again and Denver recovered on Carolina’s 4-yard line. CJ Anderson ran in the ball from two yards out and Peyton Manning completed a pass to Bennie Fowler for the 2-point conversion, effectively ending the game.

Peyton Manning had won his second Super Bowl, accompanied by Von Miller winning Super Bowl MVP and now leaving behind an undoubtedly great legacy. The debate for greatest quarterback of all time still leaves many in question, regarding the significance of Super Bowl rings and where individual statistics come into play. However, winning a second Super Bowl and potentially retiring, as a champion must feel good, whether Peyton Manning is truly the “greatest quarterback ever,” or not.