5 things Peyton Manning must do to win Super Bowl 50
By John Buhler
Peyton Manning will have to play an ultra-conservative game to beat the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 and here are five musts for Manning to get a win.
Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos will have their work cut out for them against the NFC Champion Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. Carolina is a 5.5-point favorite over Denver in next week’s Super Bowl. The public doesn’t think that the 39-year-old Manning has enough firepower left to compete with likely 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton in the marquee quarterback matchup.
Manning will play in his fourth and possibly final Super Bowl on Feb. 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. While Manning’s arm talent has obviously diminished over the last year, he does have a conservative offense he’s comfortable in, an all-time great defense, and one of the NFL’s best kickers in Brandon McManus on his Broncos team.
While Manning won’t stand as the sole reason Denver could end up winning Super Bowl 50, a great deal of the focus, for better or worse, will be on the starting quarterback for the Broncos. Manning is an all-time great, but does he have enough in the tank to knock off a Carolina team that has only lost once this season?
Given that Manning is arguably the most cerebral quarterback to ever play the position, his knowledge of the game’s nuances pre-snap will aid him in pulling off the Super Bowl upset of the Panthers. It will have to be a low-scoring game for the Broncos to stand a chance at winning their third Super Bowl in franchise history, but Denver wasn’t supposed to beat the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship either.
Here are five things Manning can do and will have to do to help lead his Broncos team to a victory in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7.
Next: 5. Carefully Attack Carolina Between the Hash Marks