Super Bowl 50: 5 bold predictions
By Brad Rowland
Hello, C.J. Anderson
The Denver offense was, shall we say, mediocre this season, and that certainly extended beyond the struggles of Peyton Manning. For the season, the Broncos finished 19th in rushing offense DVOA (by the good folks at Football Outsiders), and preseason fantasy football darling C.J. Anderson struggled to produce at a level that even approached his previous expectations.
In the playoffs, Anderson has been reasonably effective, averaging more than four yards per carry on the way to back-to-back games with 70 or more rushing yards. Yet for reasons hard to decipher, Ronnie Hillman continues to get extended work. Hillman has toted the rock 27 times combined in the two playoff games for just 54 (!) yards. With the benefit of a two-week break, perhaps the Broncos will reassess and feed the better player in Anderson.
This particular matchup is not actually a juicy one on paper, as Carolina finished with the 6th-best rushing defense DVOA in the NFL during the regular season with strong playoff performances to boot. However, stud linebacker Thomas Davis will be operating at less than 100 percent for this game after breaking his arm in the NFC Championship Game, and Carolina’s pass defense has been even better than its rushing defense throughout the campaign. Throw in the fact that Peyton Manning isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire through the air, and Denver’s best chance at offensive success is to, simply put, ride C.J. Anderson over a one-game sample.
Anderson is a sneaky Super Bowl MVP pick if you think Denver is going to win the game, because it is hard to envision the Broncos claiming victory on the arm of Manning. Regardless, Gary Kubiak and his staff would be wise to hand Anderson the ball early and often; he is talented enough to pay dividends if given the opportunity.
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