Niners Nation - Panthers vs. Broncos: Super Bowl 50 odds, TV schedule, tickets and more at Levi's Stadium"We're the San Francisco 49ers, we can do whatever we want."https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47865/ninersnation_f.png2016-02-16T07:30:03-08:00http://www.ninersnation.com/rss/stream/32663832016-02-16T07:30:03-08:002016-02-16T07:30:03-08:00Bay Area could get another SB at some point
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<figcaption>James Lang-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Super Bowl 50 wrapped up in the Bay Area, and while the game itself was not as exciting as some, things went fairly well from a perception standpoint. There were complaints about splitting it up between Santa Clara and San Francisco and the homeless were treated in an incredibly shoddy manner. And Mike Florio complained about the smell of marijuana in San Francisco.</p>
<p>But for the purposes of the NFL, people generally seemed happy with how things went down. And while the distance was an issue, I also think it makes some sense. The Super Bowl is essentially two distinct events. The game and the practices leading up to it, and everything else. It's better to have everything relatively close together, but splitting it up can play up the differences in the two aspects of the week.</p>
<p>During the latter half of Super Bowl week, Mike Florio suggested people thought there would not be another Bay Area Super Bowl anytime soon. He felt like 50 was basically quid pro quo for getting a stadium built. However, at least one senior executive thinks we'll see another Super Bowl in the Bay Area.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/NFLonTheHill">@NFLonTheHill</a> believes Bay Area will host another Super Bowl. Says <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NFL?src=hash">#NFL</a> wanted to host Super Bowl I in SF but couldn't make stadium work</p>
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) <a href="https://twitter.com/alexmarvez/status/699395688724094976">February 16, 2016</a>
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<p>@NFLonTheHill is NFL senior adviser Joe Browne. He is the longest serving official in the NFL league office, and has been in his senior adviser role since 2010. He was previously executive VP, senior VP, and regular VP. He's been around a bit.</p>
<p>This does not mean the Bay Area is going to become a permanent part of any rotation. New Orleans and Miami have held the most Super Bowls, with 10 apiece in some form or fashion. Pasadena has held five, and LA has held two, with the last taking place in 1993. It's safe to say that once LA gets a new stadium built, the city is going to be a regular member of the rotation.</p>
<p>The next two Super Bowl sites have already been selected, with Houston hosting Super Bowl 51 in 2017, and Minneapolis hosting Super Bowl 52 in 2018. The league has announced four finalists competing for Super Bowls 53 and 54. They include Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans, and Tampa. The owners will vote on those two Super Bowls in May. During Super Bowl week, the CEO of Levi's made a bit of a joke, saying he hoped Levi's Stadium would get to host Super Bowl 56. That would be LVI in the roman numerals. I'd like to think the stupid corporate joke wouldn't happen in that manner, but somehow I would not be surprised.</p>
https://www.ninersnation.com/2016/2/16/11014924/nfl-senior-executive-believes-bay-area-will-host-another-super-bowlDavid Fucillo2016-02-10T09:30:02-08:002016-02-10T09:30:02-08:00Figuring out the Michael Oher skating
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<figcaption>Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>There is a pretty crazy Vine floating around the Internet today. It shows Michael Oher dropping into pass blocking, and then immediately sliding a solid four yards back on the grass. There is a phrase involving putting an opponent on skates, and in this case, it almost literally happened to Oher. Check it out here:</p>
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<p>Given the issues the stadium has had with the turf in the past, this has quickly become yet another point of criticism. It is an embarrassing look to see that happen to a player.</p>
<p>There might be at least a partial explanation for the problem. Prior to the game, the NFL elected to put a cover over the field. There had been talk of rain in the month leading up to the game, but it ended up being a perfect weekend. There was some rain earlier in the week, but nothing in the few days leading up to the game.</p>
<p>There is a photo floating around showing Beyonce, Jay Z, and I believe their daughter <a href="http://cdn.watchloud.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Beyonce-Blue-and-Jay-Z-Levi-Stadium.jpg" target="_blank">on the field before the game</a>. You can see they have begun pulling back the cover before the game. The 49ers do not normally use a cover on the stadium. The Panthers and Broncos had a walkthrough on Saturday, so my guess is the tarp was put on Saturday afternoon or evening, and basically left on for 24 hours.</p>
<p>I worked in minor league and major league baseball prior to my current life as a blogger, working with the Bowie Baysox in Maryland, and then the Oakland A's. In Bowie in particular, tarp was a big issue due to the weather conditions in the region. However, one issue with tarp is that if you leave it on too long, moisture can get trapped on the field and create its own set of problems. My guess is that is what happened with Oher's ridiculous slide on the field.</p>
<p>The NFL was in control of the field this week, and this is another example of their poor record with player safety. The NFL talks about their concerns for player safety, but somehow they screw up little things like this and put their players at risk. If this was just a one-off thing, so be it, but the NFL has a history of "little" things like this creating a dangerous work environment. I would hope the NFLPA would say something and work on getting the league to get its act together.</p>
https://www.ninersnation.com/2016/2/10/10959518/michael-oher-skating-levis-stadium-field-super-bowl-50David Fucillo2016-02-09T11:47:52-08:002016-02-09T11:47:52-08:00Broncos have mixed opinions about Levi's field
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<figcaption>Ezra Shaw/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers dealt with some field conditions during Sunday's Super Bowl at Levi's Stadium. After the game, there were mixed reactions to the field.</p> <p>Levi's Stadium played host to Super Bowl 50 on Sunday, and one of the running storylines was the state of the field conditions. During the first half, players on both teams were slipping on the field, and changing their cleats a couple times. At halftime, Beyonce conducted a significant portion of her performance on the grass with her backup dancers, all in high heels. I was a little concerned about what it might mean to the state of the field in the second half.</p>
<p>Fortunately, things seemed to calm down to a certain degree. After the game, there were some mixed reactions from Broncos players. Broncos linebacker Von Miller mentioned having to change his cleats, but</p>
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<p>"Yeah, I had to change my cleats. It was a great field. We came out here yesterday and it was fast. As the game went on, I just needed a little more support. Adidas does a great job of getting me all kinds of cleats, and I was able to get the detachable [spikes] and real quick change them."</p>
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<p>On the other hand, Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib was <a href="http://www.csnbayarea.com/49ers/aqib-talib-levis-stadium-turf-was-terrible-super-bowl" target="_blank">not at all pleased</a> with the playing surface.</p>
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<p>"The footing on the field was terrible," Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib said. "San Fran has to play eight games on that field so they better do something to get it fixed. It was terrible."</p>
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<p>Panthers head coach Ron Rivera did not see any problems with the surface, although one has to imagine he did not want to come across as pointing figures away from his own team's performance.</p>
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<p>"We didn't have any issues with the field," Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. "Both teams played on the same field. As far as I'm concerned, for me to be able to blame the field is kind of a cop-out. The truth of the matter is we both played on the surface. The surface was outstanding."</p>
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<p>The NFL was in charge of the grass, but one has to wonder if there are underlying surface issues that might play into the turf problems. I suppose they could have just gotten a bad batch of grass, but given the 49ers numerous problems in 2014 and preseason 2015, it is hard to give this the benefit of the doubt. It could just be a bad underlying surface. Who knows.</p>
https://www.ninersnation.com/2016/2/9/10951314/broncos-players-have-differing-opinions-on-levis-stadium-field-conditionsDavid Fucillo2016-02-08T06:45:02-08:002016-02-08T06:45:02-08:00Vernon Davis is a Super Bowl champion
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<figcaption>Patrick Smith/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>It was not a pretty year for Vernon Davis, but the one-time San Francisco 49ers tight end walks away from it as a Super Bowl champion. He got very limited work on Sunday, and really for much of the latter half of his time in Denver. But he still gets a ring and the winning team playoff share. It's not too shabby.</p>
<p>Vernon will become a free agent after this season, and has said he wants to continue playing. I am very curious to see how much interest Davis draws in free agency. Teams are more inclined to look for young, cheap options, and I could see it taking some time for Vernon to land a contract somewhere.</p>
<p>In the meantime though, congrats to Vernon on getting a Super Bowl ring. He was not overly involved in the win, but he's got a ring and a lot of players do not!</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SB50?src=hash">#SB50</a> Champs!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/Broncos">@Broncos</a> Blessed to be here with the ones I love <a href="https://t.co/sFXuRcF5Kx">pic.twitter.com/sFXuRcF5Kx</a></p>
— Vernon Davis (@VernonDavis85) <a href="https://twitter.com/VernonDavis85/status/696556657401155586">February 8, 2016</a>
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https://www.ninersnation.com/2016/2/8/10934956/world-champion-vernon-davis-still-sounds-a-little-weirdDavid Fucillo2016-02-07T21:26:43-08:002016-02-07T21:26:43-08:00Steve Young comments on Cam Newton post-game
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<p></p> <p>Super Bowl 50 is a wrap, and one issue that has popped up is Cam Newton's post-game press conference. The Panthers QB got out his responses and left a few minutes in. People are now reacting to this with all the usual grace and nuance one can expect on the Internet. First up, here is a transcript, although it does not include some of the questions he did not answer.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Here's the NFL-issued transcript from Cam's post game presser. <a href="https://t.co/5UhuDHfuTW">pic.twitter.com/5UhuDHfuTW</a></p>
— Chris Biderman (@ChrisBiderman) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisBiderman/status/696559539701682176">February 8, 2016</a>
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<p>Steve Young addressed the topic on ESPN's post-game press conference, and you can watch it above. While I get the point he is making, I can say with certainty that Young is missing an important bit of context. I was down in the press conference area after the game, and there were a few media areas. There were the two locker rooms, there was a room for the MVP and winning coach, and then there were two setups for Broncos and Panthers players to file through and answer questions.</p>
<p>The problem was that the last two areas were in the same room. They were placed in the same room, with only a black curtain dividing the two teams. If you listen to the first part of the video above, you'll hear a loud voice. I believe that was Broncos cornerback Chris Harris talking about how the Broncos defense stopped the Panthers offense. He's obviously in a good mood, and I can't imagine having to deal with that immediately after the toughest loss of my career.</p>
<p>Obviously Cam could have handled it better. He could have just answered the questions quietly and then leave. But it's hard for me to take issue with a player in that situation. It strikes me as an idiotic decision by the NFL to place the two teams right next to each other after the biggest game of the year. Why even create that potential situation?</p>
<p>I also just came across this video of the full press conference. If you get to the final 10 or 20 seconds, some guy starts asking a question, but it ends up just being a statement that seems to push Cam over the edge, at which point he leaves. All in all, a poor example of press conference set-up by the NFL.</p>
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https://www.ninersnation.com/2016/2/7/10934864/steve-young-comments-on-cam-newton-post-game-press-conferenceDavid Fucillo2016-02-07T20:50:17-08:002016-02-07T20:50:17-08:00Theres a reason Vegas keeps building casinos
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<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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:</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Talking with <a href="https://twitter.com/YaronWeitzman">@YaronWeitzman</a> - Would love to parlay Von Miller for MVP (22/1) and Broncos to win but <a href="https://twitter.com/BovadaLV">@bovadalv</a> won't let me!</p>
— David Fucillo (@davidfucillo) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidfucillo/status/692039775277182977">January 26, 2016</a>
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https://www.ninersnation.com/2016/2/7/10934472/super-bowl-50-final-score-von-miller-broncos-defense-peyton-manning-retirementDavid Fucillo2016-02-07T17:47:51-08:002016-02-07T17:47:51-08:00Grass takes a beating at halftime
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<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/super-bowl">The Super Bowl</a> 50 halftime show was headlined by Coldplay, but also featured Beyonce and Bruno Mars. Coldplay and Bruno Mars performed on a stage, but Beyonce and her dancers got started on the field. They were sporting some serious heels, and given the problems the field has had through the first half, I have to think they are going to have some serious issues in the second half with player footing.</p>
<p>At this point, the NFL and Jed York are just hoping nobody gets hurt in the second half. The NFL has been in charge of the field, but one has to wonder if there are deeper, underlying issues that are leading to more turf problems. I don't know, but the whole thing is pretty odd.</p>
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https://www.ninersnation.com/2016/2/7/10934414/beyonce-super-bowl-50-halftime-show-field-surfaceDavid Fucillo2016-02-07T15:50:37-08:002016-02-07T15:50:37-08:00Montana handles coin toss for Super Bowl 50
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<p>Super Bowl 50 got going with the coin toss Sunday afternoon, and it was handled by San Francisco 49ers legend Joe Montana. Montana was joined by Steve Young, Jerry Rice, and other Bay Area legends for the coin toss. The Panthers called tails and won the toss. I'm sitting in the auxiliary press box above the north end zone and got some quick video of the Levi's Stadium scoreboard during Montana's toss.</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Joe Montana with the opening coin toss <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SB50?src=hash">#SB50</a> <a href="https://t.co/BOgGuZniWu">pic.twitter.com/BOgGuZniWu</a></p>
— Niners Nation (@NinersNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/NinersNation/status/696479023308808192">February 7, 2016</a>
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https://www.ninersnation.com/2016/2/7/10933700/joe-montana-with-the-coin-toss-to-start-super-bowl-50David Fucillo