It is the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ and on Sunday night the world will stop for NFL fans worldwide for the finale of the season – Super Bowl 50. San Francisco plays host to the showpiece match which promises to be a classic.
Throughout the night we will have Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Bruno Mars and Coldplay but most importantly of all we will have the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers battling it out for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
All eyes will be on Peyton Manning to see if the veteran legendary quarterback can go out on a high with a second Super Bowl ring and match his brother’s success in big game wins. If the Broncos are to win Peyton is going to have to play mistake free football but if we can trust anyone to do that it is Manning.
While Manning will be important it is likely that he is merely going to act as part of the show. CJ Anderson is really coming to the fore as a running back and he will be crucial but there is no way Denver can win this match without their elite defence dominating.
Carolina Panthers have become the people’s team through this season with their aggressive offensive play and their top quality defensive play. It all centres around Cam Newton on the offense and it is fitting that the game’s biggest current star faces off with a future Hall of Fame legend in the 50th Super Bowl.
While Cam gets all the plaudits on offense the Panthers have a defence which has really improved this season. Luke Keuchly gets the headlines in it but there are a number of playmakers who play tough football to get their offense back on the field. The balance in this Panthers side is fantastic.
This Super Bowl looks perfectly set up to me. We’ve got that classic elite defence against extremely potent offense clash which makes any confrontation interesting. The game will be decided by the winner of the match up of Denver’s defence and Carolina’s offense, particularly Cam Newton.
I feel sides have gone into this playoff series looking to stop Cam Newton but you can’t do that. He’s too good. Therefore I was interested to hear players like DeMarcus Ware acknowledge that fact and say the Broncos will be out to slow him down rather than stop him and that could be effective.
Newton isn’t going to have time in the pocket in this match. The rushers are too quick so if the Panthers struggle on the ground then the Broncos will be right in this especially as they have a really well balanced offense with two elite receivers in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders along with CJ Anderson on the ground.
I don’t see there being much between these sides when this one is done but I just feel Denver’s defence can keep Carolina’s point scoring down and keep the AFC champions within 5.5pts if not actually go on and win the game.
I can’t let the Super Bowl go by without a speculative punt on the MVP. Obviously if you think Carolina will win there is only one man for you and that is Cam Newton at 8/11 but I’m going to take the chance that Denver win.
Usually quarterbacks are near enough automatic picks in this market but I’m not sure Peyton will have the game changing impact some quarterbacks will have and instead I’ll look elsewhere. Of course Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware will be noticed if they contain Newton but CJ Anderson will be a big player for the Broncos.
The Broncos can’t win this match if Carolina get 12+ possessions I don’t think so I’m expecting Denver to use the ground a lot in this game and Anderson has delivered the goods in the big moments this season.
I remember the overtime game with New England earlier in the season and he has run well most of the campaign. I think he has another big game in him here and if he can put up 100 yards and maybe pound in a couple of scores he could be the value alternative to Manning at 33/1.
I will come back on game day with a preview and picks for some of the individual player markets and the specials markets for those staying up to watch the big game.
WIN – Back Denver Broncos (+5.5) to beat Carolina Panthers for a 4/10 stake at 1.95 with Ladbrokes – WIN
Back CJ.Anderson MVP for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Ladbrokes
