Panthers vs Broncos: Sequel better than the Super Bowl?

Cam Newton in Panthers vs Broncos rematch week 1 2016 NFL
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WOW. That was a doozy.

The first game of the 2016 NFL season is over, and the Panthers and Broncos gave us a lot to talk about. This game had everything from another player choosing not to stand during the national anthem (and the ensuing social media uproar) to 17 fourth quarter points to icing the kicker to force a missed FG in the final seconds. There were big plays from both defenses, with a lot of big hits (many with helmets involved) and forced turnovers.

Leading up to the game, the Panthers seemed to be the logical choice. While the Broncos lost their future Hall of Fame quarterback AND his young backup, and a quite a few starters on defense, the Panthers had the benefit of consistency and the healthy return of Kelvin Benjamin. Our fans voted Cam Newton as the one who would have the biggest game.

Fans knew that Cam Newton was coming back to Denver for revenge and this time, was coming back with his favorite target, Kelvin Benjamin. Cam had an MVP season without Benjamin on the field. What would he do with Benjamin back on the gridiron?

We didn’t have to wait long to see the Newton to Benjamin connection. The Panthers got off to a fast start, thanks in large part to the defense forcing two turnovers–a forced fumble by Luke Kuechly and an interception by Thomas Davis. The Panthers looked in control, while the Broncos offense was adjusting to life with new starting QB, Trevor Siemian.

The offense wasn’t the only Denver unit that was getting used to the 2016 version of itself. The defense was adjusting too. In his post-game interview, T.J. Ward, via Judy Batista of NFL.com, explained the adjustment the Denver defense was going through: “I think we didn’t play as bad a game as we played today all of last year. We made a bunch of errors. The first half was kind of hectic, the substitutions weren’t coming in right, the defenses weren’t coming in, we weren’t communicating it right. It was just a lot of confusion the first half. We played not good at all.”

The Panthers entered halftime with a 17-7 lead over the Broncos, and the momentum of a team looking to finish off an opponent strong. Only 11% of our voters saw a Broncos win by any margin in the cards.

But that was the first half. The second half was a totally different story.

The Denver defense sorted out whatever miscommunications slowed them in the first half and came out fired up, laying hit after hit on Cam Newton. Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware and the rest of the Denver pass rush turned up the heat late in the game. After surrendering 17 points in the first half, the Broncos held Cam & Co. to 3 points for the rest of the game.

Cam was repeatedly pummeled, even taking multiple vicious helmet-to-helmet hits. Only one resulted in a penalty–a roughing-the-passer call offset by an intentional grounding penalty. SB Nation writer Louis Bien wrote a great piece about Cam taking so many hits without the protection or favorable treatment that other quarterbacks around the league seem to get. Cam is a big man. He’s usually one of the biggest guys on the field that will touch the ball each game. Head coach Ron Rivera described what he sees as Cam getting the “Shaq treatment.” And this isn’t new. We heard this sentiment and concern from Cam’s teammates last season too.

All in all, this was an amazing way to start the 2016 regular season. The game came down to a field goal kick with 0:09 left on the clock. The Panthers overcame a 4th-and-21 (penalty on Chris Harris, Jr.) and terrible clock management to get in field goal range. It seemed like the perfect ending for Cam & Co.’s sweet revenge. The Panthers lined up, the ball was snapped, the hold was good and Graham Gano’s kick went through the uprights.

Except, Denver head coach Gary Kubiak called a timeout right before the snap. Classic icing the kicker. On the second go around, Graham Gano’s kick went wide left. Kubiak didn’t even look up to see the kick. He was staring down at the ground, looking ready to accept an 0-1 start to the season.

We were all just as surprised to see Trevor Siemian and the Broncos get off to a 1-0 start. But despite throwing two interceptions, Siemian did look good. If C.J. Anderson and the defense that showed up in the second half can play the same way throughout the season, we could have a team much closer to the 2015 Broncos than we expected.

In many ways, you could say the sequel to the Super Bowl was better than the original. With both teams looking strong to start the season, this may not be the last time we see this matchup.

(Image used via Creative Commons)

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