I came into today's Super Bowl with very low expectations. Visions of 2014 danced in my head, when the Denver Broncos were destroyed by the Seattle Seahawks from the very first snap of Super Bowl XLVIII. This year's team is a very different squad, but Peyton Manning isn't as good as he once was and I wasn't sure if the defense could keep up with Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. I'd been able to play it cool since the Broncos held on to beat New England in the AFC Championship game, but about 30 minutes before kickoff my anxiety level went through the roof and stayed that way until late in the 4th quarter when the Broncos had the game won.
Denver's offense and defense played as advertised, with the defense putting in a dominant, crushing effort and the offense limping along just enough to keep the score out of reach for the Panthers. Cam Newton was knocked around all game and when he wasn't giving up the ball then Mike Tolbert was there to drop it on the ground. It wasn't a pretty game (at least from an offensive perspective), but it was nice and tense and featured some good moments, like Eli Manning's deadpan reaction to his brother Peyton locking up a 2nd Super Bowl ring:
After so much playoff disappointment since Peyton Manning was brought into Denver, it is nice to see it pay off in a huge way with another Championship to add to the two that John Elway won under center. I was happy to see C.J. Anderson break open some really good runs, as he never seems to get enough carries to really get going. About the only thing that would have made this game better for me would have been to have Peyton Manning throw for a touchdown, but that just wasn't in the cards. I wasn't a big fan of Aqib Talib getting penalized a billion times for being a cocky jerk, but in the end it didn't cost Denver the game so I guess I can live with it.
I haven't gathered nearly enough Manning cardboard, but football cards haven't ever been my top sport of choice for collecting. It'd be nice to build up that PC some more, but there are so many other collections I have going that it's hard to allocate time and resources to another one. Regardless of all that I am pretty excited about the Broncos bringing home another Championship.
I was a bit confused by Eli's non-reaction, he seemed almost upset that Payton was going to get his second ring. This game was definitely ruled by the Broncos defense.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that he just didn't want to celebrate too early or had some other legitimate reason not to act out like the rest of the family was, but the contrast made for a good video.
DeleteEli was thinking, "Damn, we're tied now."
ReplyDeleteI guess now instead of rings he's going to have to bring up Super Bowl MVP awards or something when he wants to one-up Peyton on something.
DeleteI was pulling for the Broncos... specifically for Manning. Their offensive output was disappointing and totally boring... but the bottom line is Manning will be receiving his second ring... and that's what matters.
ReplyDeleteI really thought the offense was going to lose it for them, but they did just enough with the incredible field position (and free points) the Broncos defense gave them. I'm really glad that Manning will get his ring, especially since it came with the Broncos. I kind of hope he retires because it can really only go down from here.
Delete