Super Bowl Post-Mortem

Wow, didn't see that outcome happening. Not the meager Denver offense, which was as mediocre as expected. It was the complete inability of the Panthers offensive line to stop a rampaging Von Miller and Demarcus Ware. I understood why a depleted Patriots line with undrafted players and free agent castoffs couldn't stop Ware and especially Miller. But I never saw coming Newton geting so teed off on. 

Honestly, the Panthers looked out of sync and sorts all game. From the penalties to the missed field goal, to the dropped passes, to the lack of execution they just looked off.

Other random thoughts:

* Forget all the inane questions about whether Roger Goodell would let his sons play football. What do you think his answer will be when his multibillion business is predicated on negligent and safety-averse parents letting their children play youth football. The more relevant question in the lead up to the big game would have been what he thought about the propriety of NFL teams taking money from the DoD to "honor" military veterans and promote the armed forces. It came to mind after the repeated shots of the US soldiers in Afghanistan, the flyover, and the presenting of the colors.

* The kids spawned in the euphoria of past super bowl victories was at first interesting from a statistical point but quickly got very, very creepy. Is this part of the Goodell plan to breed/rely on the next generation of football participating children?

* Forget yellow and red cards and 2 personal fouls getting a player ejected. How about eliminating the bizarre rule where a personal foul inside the 15 yard line only results in a half the distance to the goal penalty. Talib's face mask penalty was one of the more vicious you'll see, made worse by his admission that he did it on purpose knowing that it was only going to cost him about a yard or two. Contrast that with the Panthers' grasping defensive holding penalty on third down at the end of the game that gave the Broncos an automatic first down that they then converted into a TD. What was the more dangerous and egregious play? And yet, which was a more substantive consequence?

* Poor Coldplay.

* Was it a conspiracy or sympathy? I don't recall CBS ever showing a graphic of Peyton Manning's Dilfer like stats: 13-23, 144 yards. 

* Speaking of which, while CBS was showing graphics of Manning's historical records, viewers at home did not see the final play of the game. Which Nantz described as a "merciful" end, which is funny because with about 5 minutes to go the Panthers had the ball for what could have been a game winning drive - so I'm not sure what game Nantz was watching.

* Aside from the expected early game jitters and overexcitement, something did not quite look right with Newton. He appeared to be constantly out of breath and experiencing pain in his non-throwing shoulder. Did anyone else notice? the CBS crew certainly didn't.

* Petulant, petty, front-running Cam Newton re-emerged yesterday which is too bad. He could have handled the post-game press conference a little better, but if i'm a Panthers' fan I want my QB to be sullen and pissed off after a Super Bowl loss. At least you know he cares. And you know Josh Norman cares.

* John Elway's heavy bet to go all in after the Broncos' Super Bowl loss to the Seahawks and make a series of championship runs during the fast closing window of opportunity with Peyton Manning paid off. Sure, they'll be in salary cap hell for the next three years but at least they got the ring.

* Midway through the second half didn't it just feel like a regular Sunday night game? Or worse, a Thursday night game?

* Even without a fair catch, defenders have to give punt returners a bit of space to catch the ball which is why i don't understand why they didn't call a penalty on the Panther who touched Sanders right before he caught his big punt return.

* I must have read at least four long articles in the Times, ESPN, the Post, etc. on the specially grown and installed turf at Levi's Field. And yet all I heard during the game was how terrible the field and the footing was. How does that happen?

* Glad to see referee Clete Blakeman got the league memo on calling penalties on helmet to helmet hits no matter what you have to do. Denver's Malik Jackson hit helmet to helmet with Cam Newton. But since Newton was a runner he's not "defenseless" so that can't be called (i.e., the Ryan Shazier rule). Instead, he  got called for an unnecessary roughness "late hit." To be fair to Jackson, it was a bang bang play and Newton wasn't down when Jackson went to hit him and maybe not even when he did make contact. Still, the NFL doesn't want Nantz and Simms explaining a la the Steelers-Broncos game why helmet to helmet hits are still legal in today's NFL. We'll know when the NFL's neurologists and spotters are actually doing their job when they buzz down to take a look at Cam Newton after a hit to the head like he suffered. Until then, we'll all pretend the NFL is getting serious about head trauma.

* How reluctant was CBS to report that Philly Brown was out of the game with a concussion? Is it better to deliver news like that, or pretend that players like Julian Edelman don't have concussions and are continuing to play?

* is there any irony that Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is suffering from Alzheimer's?