Super Bowl 50 was a bit of a letdown compared to last year's game, but there was still plenty to enjoy as the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night.
The Denver Broncos defense was dominant in the game and they never allowed the Panthers to get into a flow on offense. The Panthers came into the game as the heavy favorites, but the Broncos did not let that get into their heads and they ended up winning the game without much of a fight from the Panthers. The Broncos gained only 194 total yards on offense, but they managed to outscore the Panthers 24-10 with some strong play on defense.
Von Miller had 2.5 sacks and won the MVP of the game and the Broncos defense did their part with a defensive touchdown. The Broncos forced four turnovers from the Panthers and while Carolina outgained Denver on offense and had more first downs, they could not convert that into points. Overall the game was pretty sloppy and unexciting, as the teams combined for 18 penalties in the game, making things not flow so great on the broadcast.
There were some exciting plays, including a punt return by Jordan Norwood that went for 61 yards, making it the longest return ever in the Super Bowl on a punt. Ted Ginn and Corey Brown each had 40-yard plus receptions in the game and Jonathan Stewart scored a very cool touchdown by leaping over the pile into the endzone for Carolina. Compared to the game last year, which featured a last-second interception and a nice amount of scoring, this matchup was less exciting for fans watching at home.
The media broadcast of the game by CBS was solid, but there were a number of mistakes and issues during the game that were glaringly obvious. CBS was not as quick on some replays in the game and the announcing by Phil Simms and Jim Nantz did not always line up with what the viewers were seeing on those replays.
Simms made a couple mistakes by calling Robert McClain with the last name, "McBride," while rules analyst Mike Carey had a tough game as well. Carey came in to talk about a play early in the game when Panthers head coach Ron Rivera challenged a call that went against wideout Jerricho Cotchery. The catch by Cotchery was ruled incomplete and Carey came on to assess the play, saying that he would reverse the call to a catch. The call was later ruled as incomplete and Carey did not come back for any more analysis after that. Overall, the broadcast was fine, but the mistakes took things down a few notches grade-wise.
Broadcast grade: B-minus
Cam Newton appeared very frustrated after the game (and during the game), walking out of his press conference after just a few minutes. Newton took some criticism after the game for his demeanor and for not jumping on a fumbled late in the game.
The commercials were a mixed bag overall, but a few did stand out over the others. Heinz's Wiener Stampede was one of the top commercials during the broadcast, while the NFL ad featuring "Super Bowl Babies" also was a hit. The Janelle Monae "Joy of Pepsi" ad was great and so was the Amazon Echo ad featuring Dan Marino and Alec Baldwin.
Commercials overall grade: C-plus for this year