After Denver won Super Bowl 50, many were shocked by the outcome. Just about everybody that wasn’t a Broncos fan had the 15-1 Carolina Panthers winning the big game, especially after the Panthers decimated both of their previous two opponents, the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals. However, Carolina was not able to do to Denver what they did to prior opponents. Denver, however, was able to continue what they did against New England in the AFC Championship game. It was a long night for Cam Newton and the Panthers, as they lost 24-14 to Peyton Manning and the Broncos in perhaps the last game of his career.
The biggest issue for Carolina in the game was undoubtedly the defensive attack of the Broncos. For New England Patriots fans, it was déjà vu. In the AFC title game, we saw Denver mount a relentless and merciless pass rushing attack, centered around Demarcus Ware, Vonn Miller, and Derek Wolfe. The Panthers dealt with a similar problem, as Cam Newton was even forced to fumble the ball twice. The pass rush really hindered the Panthers ability to run the ball, which put all the attention on Cam Newton, who also bases a lot of his game on running the football. Denver’s biggest triumph in this game was their ability to contain both Jonathan Stewart and Cam Newton, while also making Cam feel uncomfortable throwing the ball. In hindsight, the game was over when this happened.
As Cam Newton became more and more uncomfortable in this game, his job was to try and get the game back within reach for the Panthers. What also made this game extremely tough, was that in addition to trying to figure out Denver’s lethal pass attack, if Newton did find a way to get a pass off, he would have to deal with one of the league’s best secondaries, which consists of Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr., T.J. Ward, and Bradley Roby. Newton had 300 total yards, but anybody who watched the game saw the difficulty Newton had getting anything going. Great plays for the Carolina offense were few and far between and it manifested itself on the scoreboard.  
Though this game was a shocker for most football fans, most can also agree that the entertainment was also there. Anybody was kept on the edge of their seat during this game, which is one thing I believe everyone imagined would be the case. With the major stories being “Will Carolina cap off an incredible season with a Super Bowl win?” and “Will Peyton Manning get a second ring to take into retirement?” everybody was intrigued with either of the potential outcomes of the game: would it become the dawning of a new era for Cam Newton, or Peyton Manning proving why he is one of the greatest the game has ever seen by adding another Super Bowl? We saw the latter of those two, and were rewarded with a moment fans will never forget: seeing an all-time great — maybe THE greatest of all time — possibly retire on the highest of notes, winning the Super Bowl on what may have been the last game in the career of Peyton Manning.