The Denver Broncos are your Super Bowl champions. Two years after getting stomped by the Seattle Seahawks, Denver claimed the upset in beating the Carolina Panthers by a final score of 24-10. Von Miller was named MVP following a performance that included 2.5 sacks, a pass deflection and a forced fumble.
Peyton Manning goes out a winner if he elects to retire (still figuring it out), but this game was all about the defense. Manning was 13 of 23 for 141 yards and an interception. He made some good throws, but he had a lot of bad throws. The Carolina Panthers simply could not overcome this Broncos defense. Carolina's offensive line was a mess after holding it together almost the entire season. Cam Newton finished 18 of 41 for 265 yards and an interception. His wide receivers had some drops, but Newton was also sacked six times on the day.
I was wrong on my pick for this one. I thought the Panthers had it in them to win big. Everybody was betting against Denver, and I should have gone running to the Broncos with my money. There's a reason Las Vegas keeps building casinos. The Broncos defense was No. 1 for a reason, and they showed it on Sunday.
On a side note, although I was picking the Panthers, I tried to put this wager down two weeks ago (I still thought the Panthers would win at that point) and was unsuccessful:
Talking with @YaronWeitzman - Would love to parlay Von Miller for MVP (22/1) and Broncos to win but @bovadalv won't let me!
— David Fucillo (@davidfucillo) January 26, 2016