Super Bowl 50 is now set as the Carolina Panthers will play the Denver Broncos two weeks from today in San Francisco.
The Broncos punched their ticket to the big game Sunday afternoon by beating the New England Patriots 20-18 at home in the AFC Championship game. While Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning threw two touchdowns in the game to tight end Owen Daniels, it was the Denver defense that really ruled the day as they harassed Patriots quarterback Tom Brady most of the afternoon.
While Brady did throw for 310 yards in a losing effort, he was sacked four times and hit a season-high 23 times. Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller had 2.5 of those sacks and picked off Brady early in the second quarter.
Despite being dominated most of the afternoon, the Patriots had a chance to tie the game with 12 seconds remaining in regulation. However, Brady’s two-point pass attempt was intercepted by Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby to secure the win and Denver advanced.
In the late game, the Carolina Panthers throttled the Arizona Cardinals 49-15 at home in the NFC Championship game. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton threw two touchdowns and ran for two more in the contest. Newton passed for 335 yards in the win and was only picked off once.
Sunday night’s game was one Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer will soon want to forget as he was intercepted four times and lost two fumbles. Palmer finished the game with 235 passing yards and only completed 23 of his 40 pass attempts. The Panthers defense also sacked Palmer three times.
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald caught just 4 passes for 30 yards against the Panthers.
This will mark the second time that the Panthers have been to the Super Bowl while the Broncos will be making their eighth appearance in the big game. The Panthers opened up as 5.5-point favorites. The line, however, quickly shifted to 4-points.
