Denver's kicking game impressed me the most. Great punt and kickoff coverage. Good returns on punts and kickoffs. Some deep kickoffs that were either not returned or stopped before reaching the 20 yard line. Three field goals. An extra point.[/QUVOTE]
Great point. I think you can make a great case that kicking game and turnovers were the total difference in the game. And even bigger because Carolina had dominated that all year.
Denver had less than 200 yards total offense. Let that soak in for a minute. They had a drive at the start of each half for a field goal. They had a field goal from a quirky, but outstanding punt return.
They scored a touchdown on defense, courtesy MVP Von Miller. And an offensive touchdown on a goal to to drive of what? Eight yards? Six? Also courtesy Von Miller causing a fumble. Another really big play was when they intercepted, but fumbled and one Bronco defender jumped in the middle four dark shirts to recover. If the Panthers had fallen on it, they'd have had first and goal around the six.
And it was no small thing that when that moment came when Cam's fourth quarter fumble was on the ground around the 15, his team down six, instead of jumping in to try to recover, in that moment of decision about whether to, or not, he backed away. I guess Peyton at 40 would have done the same thing. Still ...
Denver won for a lot of reasons. Their kicking game was high on the list. Pretty amazing that Peyton Manning had a career where he was often his team's one great hope, and he likely goes out, because of a great performance from 30 teammates when he played pretty close to poorly. Glad to see him get a second ring.
