The Carolina Panthers (17-1) will square off against the Denver Broncos (14-4) in Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, California on February 8. While fans and media members will focus on the individual players, this is clearly a matchup of “New School” against “Old School.”
Carolina’s “New School” identity starts with Cam Newton, a player who has totally transformed the quarterback position. During the 2015 season, Newton accounted for 45 total touchdowns (35 passing and 10 rushing) while rushing for 636 yards. Newton is the face of the franchise, but Carolina’s depth on both sides of the ball resulted in their second Super Bowl berth in franchise history. After all, a total of ten players were selected for the Pro Bowl, though they will miss the game by virtue of participating in the Super Bowl. Carolina’s fans and players do not care about the Pro Bowl, of course, as Newton will attempt to guide Carolina to its first Super Bowl win in franchise history.
Twelve years ago, Carolina lost its first Super Bowl appearance to the Patriots, 32-29. Carolina may have to win the game without the services of linebacker Thomas Davis and safety Roman Harper. Both players were injured in the NFC Championship game and are considered questionable for the Super Bowl. From purely a historical standpoint, Carolina is the fourth 15-win team to earn a Super Bowl berth. Two of those teams (1984 San Francisco 49ers and 1985 Chicago Bears) won the Super Bowl while the 2007 Patriots suffered a bitter defeat.
Carolina fans traveling for the big game still have time to get a good deal on their travels, as they can find good pricing on San Francisco flights from Hipmunk.com, while hotels in San Francisco start as low as $499 on Hipmunk.com, as well. Fans should act fast to reserve their travel arrangements for the big game.
After knocking off the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, the Denver Broncos earned their eighth Super Bowl berth, which is tied with the Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Dallas Cowboys for the most in NFL history. All eyes will be on Peyton Manning, who is seeking his second Super Bowl ring. Manning has not won a Super Bowl in nearly a decade and will look to avenge the bitter defeat he suffered in Super Bowl XLVIII just a couple years ago.
The 2015 season was difficult from an emotional and physical standpoint for Manning, but he was able to save one of his best performances for the AFC Championship game. While he didn’t fill up the stat sheet, Manning did throw for 174 yards and two touchdowns to lead his team to victory. The two touchdown passes literally doubled his original output at home during the regular season, in which he recorded just a single touchdown pass at Sports Authority Field.
On the other side of the ball, edge rushers, Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, and Derek Wolfe will look to hit Newton early and often. Denver’s defense registered 52 sacks during the regular season, the highest mark in football, while limited opposing ball carriers to just 3.3 yards per carry.
According to TiqIQ, Super Bowl tickets for the match-up between the Broncos and Panthers start at $3,400 while the average ticket price is $6,066.60. Compared to last year’s Super Bowl match-up between the Seahawks and Patriots, ticket prices are 42.8% higher than at this same time. Last year, however, prices skyrocketed to over $9,000 on average shortly before the game. With this being the monumental Super Bowl 50, that trend should resurface in a week’s time.