The Broncos were generally
considered as everyone's underdog and were expected to roll over as they faced the
Patriots. It didn't happen like
that. The Broncos were ruthless in their attack of Tom Brady, it seemed like every other play he was getting knocked
down. If he wasn't getting hit he was being forced into releasing the ball a
second earlier than he wanted. This resulted in several errant throws by Brady.
27 of 56 for 310 yards with 2 interceptions and a touchdown. The complete lack
of a running game was staggeringly evident. Brady’s 13 yards rushing was good
enough to lead the team! The Broncos were able to tee-off on the pass blocking
Patriots and collected four sacks as Von
Miller and co. took control.
Although Brady and Gronkowski came within a failed two
point conversion of taking the game to overtime, losing 20-18, the real
question was “have the Patriots finally realised that they do need some offensive
weapons aside from Brady and Gronk?”. Belichick’s offensive scheme has made stars of players like Julian Edelman and before him Wes Welker but they can't do so against
a top flight defence. Threats on the life of Stephen Gostkowski for a missed extra point show a shocking side of
what is actually a game. No-one was threatening Brady over his two
interceptions!
Cam Newton
and the Carolina Panthers offence did little wrong, but it wouldn't have
mattered if they had. The Panthers defence looked in complete control against
the vaunted Arizona Cardinals, and
they made play after play.
Newton passed for two
touchdowns and ran for two others. Greg
Olsen and Corey Brown combined
for over 220 yards as the Panthers scored six touchdowns, including a
nail-in-the-coffin interception return by star linebacker Luke Kuechly. The result never looked in doubt and seems a lifetime
away from the pre-season predictions of a disaster season following the
pre-season injury to Kelvin Benjamin.
Super Bowl 50 will feature
two strong defences that will limit the offences and present matchup issues
across the field. Each team also has its
own superstar quarterback. The style of the two players, however, couldn't be
more different. The old guard, Peyton
Manning, is a classic pocket passer with an unparalleled understanding of
the game and fading arm strength. For Carolina the latest mobile quarterback to
make the leap from offensive weapon to team superstar, Cam Newton aka Superman, will line up under centre.
Newton has a cannon for an arm and is always a threat on the ground. Based on
their Conference game performances the Panthers look to be favourites but I'd
never bet against Peyton.
The 2016 Pro Bowl saw the annual farce of a game post its lowest ever
TV ratings but there was some real football action. College football’s Senior Bowl highlighted a selection of
draft hopefuls being coached by Gus
Bradley and the Jaguars coaching
staff. Most of the hype from the week long practices was around North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, who
certainly passes the eyeball test at 6’5, 233 lbs. Wentz took the next step in
his move from small school quarterback to first round pick in the NFL draft
last night, although his time under centre was nothing spectacular (6 of 10 for
50 yards). Although many draftniks are already cementing Wentz to the Cowboys with their first pick I
personally think he looked a bit raw to be a top 5 pick!
On the other side of the ball
a couple of pass rushers really stood out. The first, Eastern Kentucky Colonels star defensive end Noah Spence, was a disruptive force all week in practice, he continued
to be nigh on blockable in the game and picked up two tackles and a sack. The
other, Baylor Bears defensive end Shawn Oakman, also had a good showing
as he picked up 2 sacks and improved his draft stock.
