Are the Broncos hopeless underdogs in Super Bowl 50?
By Troy Renck and Mark Kiszla
Denver Post
January 29, 2016
Kiz: All of Broncos Country wants a fairly-tale ending for quarterback Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl.
But the rest of America isn't buying it. In fact, with more than 80 percent of the early money wagered
being placed on Carolina, the line has moved to favor the Panthers by six points. If the line holds, it
would make Denver the biggest underdog in the Super Bowl since the 2008 NFL season. Is this a
mismatch?
Renck: The Panthers deserve to be favored. They are 17-1, and if they hadn't taken an in-game selfie
team photo during a 38-0 win over Atlanta, which motivated the Falcons for the rematch two weeks
later, they would be undefeated. As someone who has lived nearly my entire life in Colorado, I
understand why Broncos fans break out in hives over Super Bowls. The games have not been kind to the
team. But this year's Denver defense will keep a win within reach as long as the offense doesn't create
short fields with turnovers. Denver's only double-figure loss this season — 29-13 to Kansas City — came
on a day when Manning threw four interceptions and was benched.
Kiz: The betting public can't see past the glitz of Carolina's 17-1 record and the glamour of quarterback
Cam Newton, the Panthers' rising star. But the underdog in the Super Bowl has hoisted the Vince
Lombardi Trophy in five of the past eight seasons, dating to the New York Giants' stunning upset of the
undefeated New England Patriots. The Panthers deserve to be favored, but the legitimate difference in
these teams seems to be more like a field goal rather than a touchdown.
Renck: I agree. Six points is a reaction to Carolina's playoff demolition of Seattle (in the first half) and
Arizona (full game). The Broncos excel at winning ugly. They want to soak up the clock, run the ball just
enough to make their fans go mad, and terrorize opponents with a pressure defense. The Super Bowl
sets up as a close game because every game the Broncos play is close. They have won 11 games decided
by seven points or fewer, an NFL record.
Kiz: Here is what gives me hope for the Broncos: No other NFL team has won more big games this
season than Denver, and that includes Carolina. The Broncos defeated seven teams that had a winning
record. Carolina? Four. And the role of underdog fits extremely well with Denver's defensive players, a
feisty bunch that doesn't care what anybody thinks. In Super Bowl XXXII, the Broncos were 11-point
underdogs to Green Bay. How did that turn out?
Renck: Playing with a chip on its shoulder empowers a team in ways that become almost comical. The
Broncos don't need to create an enemy. That exists in a gift-wrapped box with Carolina the
overwhelming favorite. Combine that slight with the Denver defense's personality and the confidence
and trust in the coaches' game plan, and it makes the Broncos very dangerous. The Broncos can win this
Super Bowl. Just as they have won their past four games. Keep the score in the 20s, score late and let
the defense make one last stand.
Broncos coach Gary Kubiak leans on Mike Shanahan for
Super Bowl prep work
By Troy Renck
Denver Post
January 29, 2016
When Gary Kubiak won the AFC championship game, one issue remained unresolved for Broncos' critics.
Kubiak has never won a Super Bowl. He has, however, worked for a coach who has won three Super
Bowl rings. Mike Shanhan's offense dominated the San Diego Chargers, and, as boss of the Broncos, he
won the team's past two titles.
He didn't earn the nickname "Mastermind" for his appearances on "Jeopardy." His football blueprint left
an imprint with Kubiak, who has leaned on his experience with Shanahan in shaping his practices this
week as he installed the game plan as if the Broncos were playing Sunday.
"Absolutely. I saw Mike last week, spent some time with him. I watched him prepare for these games,"
Kubiak said. "Yeah, I take a lot with me on what Mike taught me and how he prepared this team for
these types of situations."
Shanahan, who interviewed for the head coaching jobs in Miami and San Francisco, is proud of Kubiak's
achievement. The two became close as Kubiak worked as his offensive coordinator.
"Anytime you go into situation where a team has won and they expect you to win and get back to a
Super Bowl, it's very hard to do that. Gary has met the challenge," Shanahan said. "And you can see why
his leadership skills have given them the ability to get back to the Super Bowl. I know Gary as well as
anybody — he's not happy with just getting there. He wants to win it."
ONE OF A KIND
There's nobody like quarterback Cam Newton. So said Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.
Newton features a special skill set. He's capable of throwing out of the pocket, but is featured regularly
in the running game. The latter is the hardest part to duplicate in practice.
Quarterbacks Brock Osweiler and Trevor Siemian have simulated Newton on the scout team.
"He's a one of a kind," Osweiler said.
Added Siemian, "I have done my best. You are not going to do to good job of impersonating him. He's
such a dynamic athlete."
INJURY UPDATE
Safeties Darian Stewart (knee) and T.J. Ward (ankle) and guard Louis Vasquez (knee) did not practice on
Friday. Vasquez intended to, but was held out from working on the Astroturf when the team shifted into
the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse because of the wind. All are expected to be ready for the Super Bowl.
Vasquez remains in a three-man rotation at guard with Evan Mathis and rookie Max Garcia, a concession
to his knee injury.
FOOTNOTES.
Broncos players appreciate the differences in how this Super Bowl has been handled. The players on the
injured reserve are traveling on the team charter, same as everyone else, on Sunday and were included
in the team picture. Two years ago, the injured players arrived late in the week. "It shows the true team
aspect. Everybody has contributed," said cornerback Chris Harris, who missed Super Bowl 48 with an
injury. "Look at a guy like (tackle Ryan) Clady. He has missed both Super Bowls (with injuries). I definitely
know this means a lot for him." ... Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips downplayed his role in
the team's success, even as his players praise him. "I am just riding the train clanging the bell," he said.
Oddsmakers choose Panthers over Broncos in Super
Bowl 50
By Troy Renck
Denver Post
January 29, 2016
When the Super Bowl 50 matchup was settled last Sunday, Las Vegas sent a simple message: The
Carolina Panthers were going to clobber the Broncos.
The betting line opened at 4 and quickly moved to 6 as money poured in on Carolina. At 17-1, the
Panthers represent a dynamic force. Their demolition of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC championship
game suggested that the Broncos would be nothing more than mosquitoes on their windshield as they
cross the finish line at Levi's Stadium.
Carolina deserves to be favored. The Panthers are the league's best team. But does it mean they will
win? There are multiple factors to suggest this will be a close game. Broncos fans can be excused for
exercising caution. The team's Super Bowl experience has often brought pain and embarrassment from
the Cowboys' demolition, Phil Simms' near perfection, Timmy Smith's 15 minutes of fame, Joe
Montana's aerial show and the Seasick feeling in New Jersey.
There's no reason to crawl under the bed and turn out the lights next Sunday. Denver's defense has kept
them in every game — even the biggest loss, 29-13 to the Kansas City Chiefs — and will again. Provided,
of course, the offense plays a clean game. Anything more than one turnover spells doom.
Two factors tilt toward the Broncos. Feel their noses. They are cold. They are the mutts in this game.
There's no better place to be on the sport's biggest stage than surrounded by doubt. Fire sprays around
them — the offense is too stale, too conservative, Peyton Manning has run out of time, the defense has
never seen anyone like Cam Newton.
There are threads of truth in the assessment. But even after the season they've put up, the Broncos'
defense remains underestimated. The Broncos love to roll up their sleeves and roll in the slop. No team
has ever won ugly more frequently — 11 games decided by seven points or less. They keep you in a
clinch for several rounds, then throw a forearm shiver to the face.
Newton presents a nerves-frayed challenge. He throws like Andrew Luck and Ben Roethlisberger in the
pocket, and runs like Adrian Peterson out of it. However, Newton has shown a hint of vulnerability. In
Carolina's lone loss, 20-13 to Atlanta on Dec. 27, the Falcons pressured Newton on 44 percent of his
dropbacks. And under pressure, he becomes mortal.
It doesn't mean the Broncos need to blitz. They must make Newton throw sooner than he wants while
keeping him in the pocket. Watch Wade Phillips' Broncos' defense, and the subtlety is remarkable. He
brings five players, but an outside linebacker might keep outside containment. Make it six, and the last
rusher has the backside fenced in.
The ability to make Newton uncomfortable — the Broncos hit Tom Brady 20 times last week — is
paramount. The Broncos should win the matchups against Carolina receivers, leaving them to find
coverage answers for star tight end Greg Olsen.
The Panthers have quickly attracted the nation's attention. Or at least their pocket books. The casual fan
is likely to pull for Manning in his potential final game.
The Broncos are not expected to win. It puts them on boil. And with this defense angry and unsung, it
makes them dangerous.
Broncos players showered with Super Bowl 50 swag
By Nicki Jhabvala
Denver Post
January 29, 2016
Super Bowl 50 is no average bowl game.
As one of the final two teams standing, the Broncos have already been rewarded with a flood of
freebies, courtesy of the NFL and its sponsors. The first wave of Super Bowl swag arrived this week at
the Broncos' practice facility, where unopened boxes and freshly folded apparel was strewn across the
locker room.
Some of the items given to each player:
• All-black Nike "Speed Destroyer" letterman jackets, with a black-and-gold NFL logo stamped on the
chest and black numeral "50" patched on the sleeve, valued at $900 apiece.
• Two pairs of Nike shoes, one of which were black-and-white "Roshe" style.
• A black Nike backpack, with a gold Super Bowl 50 travel tag, stuffed with T-shirts and other Nike
apparel.
• A set of gold, Super Bowl-edition QuietComfort 25 Bose headphones.
• And OontZ Angle 3XL portable wireless bluetooth speakers, valued at about $250 each.
But this was just a teaser before the players arrive in Santa Clara, where they're expected to receive
many more gifts.
An upgrade from college bowl game swag?
"When I was at Oregon State, we went to the Alamo Bowl," safety Ryan Murphy said. "Our best gift was
probably just an iPad mini. So, yeah."
Von Miller: Cam Newton is one of my favorite
quarterbacks
By Nicki Jhabvala
Denver Post
January 29, 2016
On paper, it’s the perfect rivalry, a throwback to 2011 when Cam Newton was selected first by the
Panthers, and Von Miller was taken second by the Broncos. A freakishly athletic quarterback vs. a
freakishly athletic pass rusher. The star of the league’s top scoring offense vs. the star of the league’s
top-ranked defense.
Problem is, it’s not a rivalry, Miller said. Miller is a fan of Newton more than anything.
“If I played quarterback, I could see it,” Miller said. “But I like Cam Newton. That’s one of my favorite
quarterbacks. Peyton (Manning) is obviously my favorite quarterback, but other than that, it’s Cam. I
don’t think there’s another quarterback that’s ever played the game the way he does, especially the way
his personality is on the field. I’m just a big fan of everything that he has going for him. He’s a huge role
model. If he played defense, he probably would’ve gotten $220 million dollars because he can probably
rush the passer and drop back and do safety and all that stuff, too. I’m a big fan. It’s not really the No. 1
vs. No. 2 that the media tries to play out to be. He’s a great quarterback. We’ve got a great opportunity
going against him.”
Broncos eager for California love with Super Bowl 50 in
their home state
By Cameron Wolfe
Denver Post
January 29, 2016
Running back C.J. Anderson sat in the locker room after the Broncos' 20-18 victory over the Patriots in
the AFC championship game with a smile larger than any he's flashed all season.
He is heading back to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years, but this one is a little more
special because of the location.
"I'm going home... for free," Anderson said.
Home for Anderson is Vallejo, California. He rushed for a little less than 4,000 yards at Jesse M. Bethel
High School just 30 miles north of San Francisco and 65 miles north of Santa Clara, the host city of Super
Bowl 50.
For Anderson and many other California natives, the area of San Francisco, Santa Clara, Oakland, San
Jose, Sacramento and smaller surrounding cities is known as "The Bay."
The Broncos have eight players born in California on their 53-man roster and four more on injured
reserve.
There's a little bit of a divide.
Anderson, safety T.J. Ward and linebacker Todd Davis lean toward the Bay. Running back Ronnie
Hillman, defensive end Malik Jackson, long snapper Aaron Brewer and center Sam Brenner grew up on
the south side near the likes of Los Angeles and San Diego.
Tight end Virgil Green, as he describes it, is "right smack in the middle," from Tulare
In a state known for peaceful beaches and warm weather, California provides a place of comfort and
excitement for some of the Broncos key players.
"Whenever I go home, it's something about where you come from — the air, the grass, the sounds — it
just brings up memories," Ward said. "I smell that grass and it reminds me of playing Pop Warner. So it'll
definitely take me back to when I was dreaming about this moment."
Ward is from San Francisco and went to high school at La Salle High School in Concord, California. There
he was a part of a 151-game winning streak and he has hoped of one day play in front of his home fans
again.
Now, he will be back in the biggest game of the year and he can't wait to smell the Bay air.
Davis, like the rest of the Broncos, is excited to play in the backyard of his friends and family. He went to
school at Sacramento State, and is only two years removed from being on campus.
He's planning a couple visits during Super Bowl week to see some of his old teammates, family and
friends.
"The only problem is so many people are calling for tickets," Davis said. "I got about 15 tickets, but I
have had about 80 people calling me. Friends from back home, friends from Sac State."
Davis said his family gets first dibs, but a few friends will come, too. Players each get two complimentary
tickets with more available to buy.
Anderson said he won't have time to make a trip back to his hometown. He's all business during Super
Bowl week.
He will look across the field next Sunday to see Carolina Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson, another
Bay Area native who he played against in high school and college. The only difference is Thompson will
be playing for the same thing Anderson is and only one of them will walk away happy.
Tight end Vernon Davis isn't from California, but he played 9 ½ seasons in San Francisco. He was traded
from the 49ers to the Broncos in October.
"It all seemed surreal to me when we first got the win over the Patriots," Davis said. "I was like, 'Wow,
we're actually going back to Levi's Stadium.' It couldn't get any better than that."
The California kids all agree on one thing — playing the Super Bowl at home is only satisfying if it ends
with lifting up the Lombardi trophy.
"Fiftieth Super Bowl in your hometown," Ward said. "I don't think you can write a better story than that
unless we win.
"When we win."
Darian Stewart, T.J. Ward sit out practice again
By Cameron Wolfe
Denver Post
January 29, 2016
The Broncos moved inside for practice in the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse Friday, but the intensity ramped up.
Helmets and shoulder pads meant contact and more game-like drills.
The defense practiced without their starting safeties T.J. Ward (sprained left ankle) and Darian Stewart
(sprained right MCL) at full strength.
Ward was out at practice for the second straight day, but he didn't have a helmet meaning the team will
likely list him as a "did not participate." Stewart was out on the field for the first time Friday, but he
wore sweat pants and did more watching than anything.
Coach Gary Kubiak said Stewart, Ward and guard Louis Vasquez (sore knee) would be listed as
questionable if the Super Bowl 50 was Sunday.
Stewart and Ward went through some individual drills beside their replacements and seem to be on
pace with the plan to have both sit out until the team arrives in California.
Vasquez did not practice because of the move to the turf inside. Wind was the reason why the Broncos
practiced inside according to Kubiak.
Stewart and Ward said they expect to play in Super Bowl 50. Kubiak agreed.
NFL concussions at a four-year high
By Cameron Wolfe
Denver Post
January 29, 2016
The NFL made great jumps to improve the awareness and treatment of on-field concussions. Those
efforts have reduced the amount of dangerous early returns from concussions, but haven’t decreased
the overall number.
NFL data released Friday revealed that there have been 271 concussions during the 2015 preseason and
regular season, the highest since at least 2011. 2014 brought a four-year low of 206, but this season
brought a drastic increase.
The majority of these concussions derived from helmet-to-helmet contact, which caused 92
concussions, another four-year high. That’s up from 58 in 2014. Helmet to playing surface contact was
the second highest cause of concussions with 23 cases.
Practice concussions were at a four-year low with 37 recording during the 2015 preseason and regular
season, but the numbers were boosted by 234 game concussions.
The NFL also reported 56 ACL sprains (all knee sprains are some degree of tears), which is about league
average. MCL sprains reached a four-year high with 170 cases.
There were 6.6 injuries per game during Sunday and Monday contests during the regular season, a slight
decrease from the 7.3 average in 2014. However, Thursday games recorded 5.7 injuries per game, a
four-year high.
The NFL's secret: How the league controls Super Bowl
ticket sales
By Jennifer Brown
Denver Post
January 29, 2016
Broncos season-ticket holders got one of two e-mails within a few hours of the team's down-to-the-wire
win over the New England Patriots, before the rush of a nerve-wracking AFC championship had even
begun to wear off.
How many were among the lucky ones, whose inboxes held offers of face-value tickets to the Super
Bowl?
That's a secret the Broncos and NFL won't tell.
The Broncos received thousands of tickets from the NFL, although the league won't say exactly how
many. Of those, an unknown amount were offered to Broncos season-ticket holders, and an unknown
number were sold to PrimeSport, the Broncos' "travel partner."
Season-ticket holders who got the bad-news e-mail notifying them they didn't win the ticket lottery
instead were offered PrimeSport travel packages to San Francisco ranging from $2,000 to $7,500 per
person depending on airfare and hotel.
Mike Siegrist was on the way home from the game Sunday when he got the e-mail suggesting he book a
travel package through the Atlanta-based ticket company.
"Win or lose, the lottery is fine," the season-ticket holder said. "It is wrong, however, after fans support
the team year after year and we get to the Super Bowl, to take tickets which could be included in the
lottery and sell them to a broker."
The Broncos play in a stadium owned by taxpayers and should "be transparent about how they split the
tickets they receive," he said. "Their continued refusal to address the issue only leads us all to wonder
what they are hiding."
Denver-area consumers are paying, through a sales tax, the majority of the $400 million construction
cost of Sports Authority Field at Mile High, which opened in 2001.
Broncos and league officials wouldn't say how many tickets were offered to fans two years ago, the last
time Denver was in the Super Bowl, and they wouldn't say this week either.
PrimeSport also would not say how many tickets the company purchased from the Broncos.
Tim Hoops, a Broncos season-ticket holder since 1967 who has not won any of the team's eight Super
Bowl lotteries over nearly 40 years, was grateful for the "fun ride" this season but annoyed by the
team's secrecy leading up to the big game.
He called it "hypocritical that they cherish their strong fan base but totally manipulate them and their
pocketbooks."
The two Super Bowl teams — the Broncos and the Carolina Panthers — each receive 17.5 percent of
tickets. Capacity for a regular-season game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., is about 68,500, but
capacity for the Super Bowl "hasn't been finalized yet," said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy.
Doing simple math shows the Broncos got about 11,600 tickets, although the team and the league
would confirm only that the number is in the ballpark. The Broncos have 23,000 season-ticket accounts,
totaling 71,000 seats.
Broncos spokesman Patrick Smyth said the "limited number" of tickets from the league was divided
among season-ticket holders and several other "internal and external" groups. Season-ticket holders
were chosen through a computer-generated lottery weighted by tenure.
The Panthers said their total allotment of Super Bowl tickets is less than 10,000, The Charlotte Observer
reported Friday. A team spokesman said 7,500 to 8,000 of those tickets go to personal seat license
owners. The others go to players' and coaches' families and friends and others affiliated with the team.
The NFL retains 25 percent of Super Bowl tickets to sell to media members, sponsors and others. The
San Francisco 49ers, as hosts of this year's game, get 5 percent of the tickets, and the remaining NFL
teams each get 1.2 percent.
Before the Broncos last went to the Super Bowl, the NFL was the target of a class-action lawsuit alleging
the league violated New Jersey's anti-ticket-scalping law. The league sells just 1 percent of Super Bowl
tickets directly to the public through its lottery system, forcing other fans to buy them for higher prices
in the secondary market, the lawsuit said.
New Jersey law prohibits withholding more than 5 percent of tickets to an event from sale to the public.
A judge sided with the NFL and dismissed the lawsuit. "It went nowhere," said attorney Greg Kohn, who
is representing irked football fans. "It's just more evidence that they need to be held accountable."
The New York attorney general's office has launched an investigation into the NFL's ticketing practices
for possible antitrust violations, according to news reports this week.
The attorney general's office released a report Thursday criticizing "price floors" for tickets, particularly
by sports leagues, including the NFL, The Associated Press reported.
The report said many NFL teams encourage or even require ticket holders to use Ticketmaster's NFL
Ticket Exchange platform, where the seller is prohibited from cutting the price below face value. That
prevents lower prices when demand drops, making it harder for season-ticket holders to sell their
tickets late in a season when their team is playing poorly.
On Friday morning, there were 209 ticket listings for Super Bowl 50 on the NFL Ticket Exchange offered
from $3,480 to $15,000 each.
Sports Authority slashes 100 jobs
By Alicia Wallace
Denver Post
January 29, 2016
Sports Authority, the sporting goods retailer struggling to avoid bankruptcy, this week cut about 100
jobs, mostly from its Englewood corporate headquarters, a spokeswoman confirmed Friday.
The cuts included 16 people in the team sales division, a unit that sells sports equipment and uniforms
to a variety of youth, high school and college sports teams, according to a former employee who was
notified Tuesday.
This month, Sports Authority skipped an interest payment on its $343 million of subordinated notes due
in February 2018. The company is using its 30-day grace period to negotiate with bondholders,
Bloomberg News reported, citing an unnamed source.
If those talks fall through, privately held Sports Authority likely will seek bankruptcy protection, the
source told Bloomberg.
The 450-store chain has at least $643 million of debt.
The layoffs are part of a "balance sheet restructuring" aimed at reducing the debt load, the company
said in an e-mailed statement. Sports Authority will have about 750 full-time corporate employees after
the cuts.
"We remain very focused on implementing a comprehensive operational plan that will support this
effort while improving our ability to engage with our customers in stores and online," the statement
said. "While this action was difficult, we believe this was a necessary step in our plan to return Sports
Authority to long-term profitable growth."
Fred Jacobsen, owner of Sportline in Arvada, said he has talked with several of the team-sales
employees who lost their jobs.
He hopes to recruit some of the division's workers and customers.
"It's obviously an opportunity for us," he said. "We hope to make it an opportunity for those employees
as well."
Ex-Buff Nick Kasa grabs hold of Super opportunity with
Broncos
By Michael Kelly
Denver Post, for BuffZone.com
January 29, 2016
Nick Kasa has made plenty catches in his life, but it was one drop that nearly derailed a great
opportunity for the former University of Colorado tight end.
Out of football and working hard for another chance in the NFL, the 25-year-old Kasa found one at the
most unlikely time when the Denver Broncos signed him to the practice squad on Monday.
Now he's heading to the Super Bowl with a chance for a championship ring.
"It's a freaking dream come true," he said Thursday after his first practice with Denver. "I don't know
how to describe it. It's still fresh in my brain and a whirlwind going around in there. It's good to be here."
The opportunity nearly eluded him. Kasa was at Sports Authority Field rooting for the Broncos against
New England in the AFC championship game last Sunday and had no clue he was being pursued by the
teams he was watching. Both squads tried to contact him during the game but he had dropped his
phone and cracked the screen, rendering it useless.
He accessed his messages Monday and heard the Broncos wanted to sign him to their practice squad, so
he raced to get his phone replaced.
Once he connected with the Broncos he quickly signed.
"I didn't see this coming," the Legacy High School grad said. "I thought the season was drawing to an
end. I was ready to move on to the next year and they surprised me with this call."
Now he's going to the Super Bowl, helping the team prepare for Carolina by playing the role of Greg
Olsen. At 6-foot-5, 265 pounds Kasa is nearly the exact size of the Panthers' Pro Bowl tight end.
"I guess my role is to be the best Greg Olsen that I can," he said. "The last couple of days I started
looking at some film of him. Before Monday, I didn't know that's what I was going to have to do. That's
what they've asked me to do right now, try to give defense best look I can."
It has been a long road to get to this point, even if it is being on the practice squad. Kasa, a four-year
letterman at Colorado, was a defensive lineman his first three seasons. He moved to tight end in 2012
and had 25 catches for 391 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games.
He was impressive enough in his one year on offense to be taken by the Raiders in the sixth round of the
2013 draft. He played in all 16 games for Oakland that season and had one catch as a rookie, a 9-yard
touchdown grab against Denver in Week 17.
He was on injured reserve in 2014 with a torn ACL and Oakland released him last offseason.
He stayed in shape while waiting for another opportunity, but he didn't expect it to come before the
biggest game of the season. Now he has a stall in the locker room of the AFC champions and sits next to
a fellow CU alum, offensive lineman Tyler Polumbus.
Kasa knows, barring an unforeseen series of events, he won't be activated for the Super Bowl in Santa
Clara, Calif. Still, three days after he signed he's still trying to wrap his mind around what has transpired.
"It's been pretty crazy, kind of indescribable," he said. "These guys have been working hard toward this
for a long time and for me to come in at the end here, it's just kind of an out-of-the-ordinary event."
Knighton pulling for Broncos but warns Cam is tall task
By Mike Klis
9 News
January 29, 2016
A fun time should be had by all Denver Broncos next week when they make the trip to Super Bowl 50 in
the San Francisco region.
Just not as much fun if they still had their Pot Roast.
“I wanted to stay in Denver because I knew every year there would be a chance of playing in the Super
Bowl,’’ Terrance Knighton, the defensive tackle who gained enormous popularity in the 2013-14 seasons
with the Broncos, said in a phone interview Friday. “But I know it’s just business. I wound up with a good
team in Washington that surprised a lot of people by making the playoffs. I’m definitely happy for the
guys. I still talk to them. I talk to Kayvon (Webster) probably more than any of them. He’s like my little
brother. I talk to (Aqib) Talib. I talk to T.J (Ward). I talk to Sly (Williams). He’s a nose tackle like I was and
we talk football. I’ll be pulling for them.’’
Knighton was a defensive star on a 2013 Broncos’ team that was mostly carried to Super Bowl 48 on
quarterback Peyton Manning’s passing. A free agent after last season, Knighton wound up signing a oneyear contract with Washington.
Two years later, it’s Wade Phillips’ defensive unit that is chiefly responsible for the Broncos returning to
the Super Bowl. It's a defensive system that puts a greater premium on speed than size.
“It’s a typical Wade defense,’’ Knighton said. “He just has the pieces that makes them special. You’ve got
three lockdown corners (Chris Harris, Bradley Roby, and Talib). You’ve got two safeties (Ward, Darian
Stewart) that are going to make guys pay coming across the middle. That D-line is something else.
They’re fun to watch. You’ve got those two guys (DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller) on the edge and then
you the inside complement with (Derek) Wolfe and Malik (Jackson). Their linebackers, Danny
(Trevathan) and B-Marsh (Brandon Marshall), they’re two of the fastest backers in the league.
“Whether it’s the Broncos or whether it’s the team playing the Broncos, I love to see a great defense as
a defensive player. They’re playing great. I’ve talked to a few them and I told them they’re going to have
their hands full with the guy they’re facing next week. It’ll be a fun matchup.’’
Knighton played about 24 defensive snaps a game for Washington team that won the NFC East but were
eliminated by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the playoffs. Knighton’s former Broncos,
meanwhile, play on. They will meet the Carolina Panthers with their star quarterback Cam Newton in
the Super Bowl that will be played Feb. 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
Knighton says he feels no envy of the Broncos’ success, no bitterness they decided to play this season
without him by allowing his contract to expire.
“No, friends stay together,’’ said Broncos backup cornerback Kayvon Webster, who stayed at Knighton’s
home in Denver during the 2014 offseason. “It was a business, he understands that side. Talk to him
once or twice a week.’’
Knighton thought he might strike it rich with the leverage of free agency last year, but he wound up
signing a modest one year deal with Washington that paid him about $3.9 million. He’ll be available
again in March.
“Now I don’t need anything or expect anything or worry about anything,” said Knighton, who turns 30
on July 4. “I just need to keep working out, making sure my weight is under control. Last time, I was
expecting a big contract. Things didn’t go quite the way I wanted. Now, I’m not going to stress about it.’’
Kasa cheers Broncos from stands, then joins them
By Mike Klis
9 News
January 29, 2016
On Sunday, Nick Kasa was sitting in section 100, row 38, screaming for his favorite team, the Denver
Broncos.
“I lost my voice cheering for them,’’ Kasa said.
On Monday, the Thornton-raised, University of Colorado Buffalo exchanged cheering for the Broncos for
being a Bronco. He was signed to their practice squad to take the place of tight end Dan Light, who was
released Monday.
Kasa arrives just in time for Super Bowl 50 preparations. He’ll be on the team charter flight Sunday
afternoon and head to Santa Clara, Calif., where the Broncos will continue to prepare for their Big Game
against Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.
“I feel a little guilty about it because I know these guys have been working hard all year,” Kasa said. “And
I’m just jumping on board here at the end.”
Strangely, the team playing against the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, the New
England Patriots, had also talked to Kasa at various times during the season. But Kasa had settled on
trying to find his best fit during the offseason.
When his hometown Broncos called though, and offered him not only employment but a Super Bowl
experience, there was no reason to wait.
Born 25 years ago in Rochester, N.Y, Kasa moved to Thornton before he was 1 and attended Legacy High
School in Broomfield before playing at CU. He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the sixth round of
the 2013 draft and caught a 9-yard touchdown late in a 34-14 loss to the Broncos that year.
It remains Kasa only NFL catch. Yet, the dream lives on.
He watched the AFC Championship Game with some friends who also knew their football. So did he
watch it analytically as a football player or rabidly as a fan?
“A little bit of both,’’ he said. “It was a great game. The best game I’ve ever seen as a fan.’’
Next up for Kasa is to meet quarterback Peyton Manning before it’s too late.
“He’s been a little busy,’’ Kasa said. “I’m just trying not to get in anybody’s way.’’
9 biggest quarterback mismatches in Super Bowl history
By Mike Klis
9 News
January 29, 2016
This isn’t necessarily about the worst quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl. It’s about the most lopsided
matchups -- on paper -- in terms of accomplishments. Spoiler alert: Trent Dilfer and Kerry Collins, who
started against each other in Super Bowl 35, didn’t make this list.
(Note: As the Super Bowl has dropped the Roman numeral system this season, we converted all Super
Bowls on this list to our American numeric system).
Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Vince Ferragamo, LA Rams, SB 14, 1979
Ferragamo was perhaps the most handsome quarterbacks to start a Super Bowl, but he only had seven
career starts, counting the NFC playoffs, entering this game. Bradshaw was starting his fourth Super
Bowl. The Steelers won, 31-19.
Joe Theismann, Washington Redskins vs. David Woodley, Miami Dolphins, SB 17, 1982
Woodley had 5 TD passes against 8 interceptions in a strike-shortened year and was 4 of 14 in this Super
Bowl. Theismann had a nice run in his mid-30s, posting 8-1, 14-2 and 11-5 records with two Super Bowl
appearances before Lawrence Taylor ended his career the following season.
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts vs. Rex Grossman, Chicago Bears, SB 41, 2006
In his 17 playing seasons, Manning averaged 32 touchdown passes, 4,231 yards and 11 wins per season.
Grossman was 13-3 this year even though he threw 20 interceptions. He otherwise went 12-19 the rest
of his career with 33 touchdowns against 40 picks. He committed three more turnovers in this game that
was played in a steady Miami rain and Manning was MVP in a 29-17 Colts win.
Troy Aikman, Dallas Cowboys vs. Neil O’Donnell, Pittsburgh Steelers, SB 30, 1995
O’Donnell was so bad, throwing three picks, he made a Super Bowl MVP of a cornerback named Larry
Brown. Aikman was a three-time Super Bowl champion and first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Steve Young, San Francisco 49ers vs. Stan Humphries, San Diego Chargers, SB 29, 1994
To show how good Young was, his career began 3-16 in two seasons with woeful Tampa Bay, before
sitting four years behind Joe Montana. And yet he was still a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Young threw 6
TDs with 0 INTs in this 49-24 rout of Chargers. Humphries had a decent, but relatively short-lived run
with San Diego from 1992-96.
Tom Brady, New England Patriots vs. Jake Delhomme, Carolina Panthers, SB 38, 2003
It was 0-0 with 3:15 left in the first half and the final score was 32-29 Patriots. Delhomme played well in
this game, throwing for 323 yards and 3 TDs with 0 interceptions. Brady is one of the best of all-time -he is NOT the best – and while Delhomme had three playoff seasons with Carolina, his five pick game
in a 33-13 second-round home loss to Arizona is tough to shake.
John Elway, Denver Broncos vs. Doug Williams, Washington Redskins, SB 22, 1987
There were times in Super Bowl history when the less accomplished quarterback played on the superior
team. Elway was the league MVP this season. Williams was the backup to Jay Schroeder until coming off
the bench in the second half of the final regular-season game. Williams was 9 of 26 for 119 yards in the
NFC Championship Game. After falling behind 10-0 to Elway and the Broncos in this game, Williams led
Washington to touchdowns on five consecutive second quarter possession and his team cruised to a 4210 win.
Jim Kelly, Buffalo Bills vs. Jeff Hostetler, New York Giants, Super Bowl 25, 1990
Kelly posted a career-best 101.2 passer rating in his Hall of Fame career. This was the first of four
consecutive Super Bowl appearances and the one his K-Gun offense was expected to win after the Bills
scored 44 and 51 points in their two AFC playoff games. Hostetler was in his sixth year as Phil Simms’
backup and didn’t start until the final two games of this regular season because of Simms’ foot injury.
Hostetler played well in a 20-19 win, but so did Kelly. The difference was a missed 47-yard field goal by
Scott Norwood with four seconds remaining.
John Elway, Broncos vs. Chris Chandler, Atlanta Falcons, SB 33, 1998
Chandler played 17 years, which is why he’s last on this list. But he was 67-85 as a starter which is why
he made this list. He was 13-1 this season for Dan Reeves’ Atlanta Falcons, but he threw three
interceptions in this game while Elway was the MVP in his farewell appearance.
Should have made the list: Len Dawson, Kansas City Chiefs vs. Joe Kapp, Minnesota Vikings, Super Bowl
4, 1969; Bob Griese, Miami Dolphins vs. Billy Kilmer, Washington Redskins, Super Bowl 7, 1972.
Former Bronco indicted in drug ring
By Steve Staeger
9 News
January 29, 2016
A member of a former Broncos Super Bowl team is making headlines this week—and it has nothing to
do with football.
Former runningback Derek Loville, 47, could face life in prison after he was indicted in a drug trafficking
ring.
Loville is among 22 people accused of distributing drugs, running an illegal gambling ring, and laundering
money.
The indictment also states members of the group used "collectors" to threaten individuals who owed
money.
9NEWS Reporter Steve Staeger talks more about the case in the video above.
Peyton Manning and boss, John Elway, among Broncos'
top 10
By Jeff Legwold
ESPN.com
January 29, 2016
As the Denver Broncos prepare for the franchise's eighth Super Bowl appearance, Feb. 7 against the
Carolina Panthers in Santa Clara, California, it's a good time to unveil a list of the top 10 players in
Broncos history. After consulting several longtime players, coaches and other team officials, there were
many tough calls. Here they are:
10. (tie) Cornerback Louis Wright and wide receiver Rod Smith: I cannot, and will not, leave either of
these guys off the list. Plenty of folks in the NFL say Wright is deserving of a Hall of Fame spot, yet the
12-year Bronco has never even been a HOF finalist. Wright was a phenomenal player who affected how
offenses played. Meanwhile, Smith retired as the franchise’s all-time leading receiver, a heartbeat player
in a star-studded locker room for a two-time Super Bowl winner.
9. Safety Steve Atwater: A finalist for the Hall of Fame's Class of 2016, Atwater was an eight-time Pro
Bowl selection when it meant a lot more than it does now in the days of declined invitations and injury
replacements. Atwater played in 14 playoff games with the Broncos, and every offensive player who
faced him wanted to know exactly where the hard-hitting safety was on the field.
8. Linebacker/defensive end Karl Mecklenberg: Yes, he deserves a slot in Canton as well. He was a Swiss
Army-type of defender who could line up anywhere for defensive coordinator Joe Collier. Mecklenberg
could rush, he could cover, and Collier has said he had no concerns lining up Mecklenberg at “seven
spots in the same game."
7. Linebacker Randy Gradishar: There may be no player who stirs the emotion of Broncos fans when the
Hall of Fame is the topic of conversation more than Gradishar, who is one of several defensive giants
snubbed by the Hall. Gradishar is the Broncos’ all-time leader in tackles and never missed a game in his
10-year career.
6. Running back Floyd Little: The Hall of Famer (Class of ’10) was the franchise’s first star -- the first firstround pick signed by the team in the pre-merger day of pro football. Between 1967 and 1975, only O.J.
Simpson rushed for more yardage than Little. He won the NFL’s rushing title in 1971. However, he never
played in a postseason game because the Broncos didn’t make the playoffs until 1977.
5. Tight end Shannon Sharpe: The Hall of Famer (Class of ’11) played on both of the Broncos’ Super Bowl
winners and was a four-time All-Pro selection. He played 12 of his 14 NFL seasons with the Broncos and
led the team in catches for six straight seasons -- 1992-97.
4. Cornerback Champ Bailey: The future Hall of Famer came to the Broncos via trade in 2004. Coach
Mike Shanahan traded running back Clinton Portis to the Washington Redskins for Bailey and a secondround draft pick. Bailey went on to play 10 of his 15 career seasons in Denver, including a 10interception season in 2005, when he should have been the league’s defensive player of the year. He
was a cornerstone player in a time of transition -- the Broncos’ 4-12 season in 2010 certainly a low point
-- but went to eight of his 12 career Pro Bowls with the Broncos.
3. Quarterback Peyton Manning: If Manning calls it a career after Super Bowl 50, he will have spent four
seasons with the team. Should Manning be considered a "real" Bronco? If a guy is a major part of two
Super Bowl trips in those four seasons, has piloted the league’s highest-scoring offense and helped
return the franchise to the kind of prominence owner Pat Bowlen wanted the Broncos to have, then he’s
on the list. Manning is a Mount Rushmore player and will be in the Hall of Fame the minute the five-year
waiting period ends.
2. Running back Terrell Davis: Most players on the 1997 and '98 Broncos would agree they wouldn’t
have Super Bowl rings if it weren’t for Davis. A knee injury ended his career prematurely, but he is the
greatest postseason player at his position in league history -- he averaged 142.5 rushing yards per game
in the playoffs -- and he was both the league MVP and Super Bowl MVP in his career. He is a Hall of
Fame finalist for the Class of 2016.
1. Quarterback John Elway. Hall of Famer (Class of 2004). He went to five Super Bowls as a player, won
back-to-back titles in the last two seasons of his career and was named the MVP of the last game he
played in -- Super Bowl XXXIII. In short, he is the most accomplished player in the franchise’s history and
retired as the league’s winningest quarterback -- Brett Favre and Manning have since passed him. Elway
also generated 83 percent of the team’s points during his career.
Honorable mention: Jason Elam, Simon Fletcher, Rich Jackson, Tom Jackson, Tom Nalen, Jake Plummer,
Dennis Smith, Lionel Taylor, Billy Thompson, Rick Upchurch, Gary Zimmerman
Broncos' offense needs fast Super Bowl start this time
around
By Jeff Legwold
ESPN.com
January 29, 2016
Peyton Manning has said the Denver Broncos find themselves in Super Bowl 50 because of the team’s
defense.
But that doesn’t mean the Broncos' offense doesn’t have a very specific, very important job to give the
team its best chance to win the franchise's third Lombardi Trophy -- and that is to start fast. Because
these Carolina Panthers aren't known for showing up to a football party fashionably late.
“You see a lot," said Manning, of what the game video has shown. “You see just a fast, physical football
team that’s created a lot of negative plays for offenses. They’ve created a lot of turnovers, given an
offense a lot of short fields, which as you watch the game unfold, and you see the scoreboard, it’s 7-0,
it’s 14-0. It’s like the guy singing the national anthem is still on the field and the game hasn’t started
yet."
The Panthers led the Seattle Seahawks in their NFC divisional game 14-0 at the end of the first quarter,
and 31-0 at halftime. Against the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game, the Panthers led 170 at the end of the first quarter, and 24-7 at halftime.
In the regular season, the Panthers led the Houston Texans 10-3 at the end of the first quarter in Week
2, led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4 and led 10-0 at
the end of first quarter Week 12 against the Dallas Cowboys. That’s to go with a 27-7 halftime lead over
the Green Bay Packers in Week 9, a 21-7 halftime lead over the New York Giants in Week 15 and a 24-3
lead over the Buccaneers in the regular-season finale.
“They’ve jumped out on a lot of teams this year, they’ve played ahead," Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said.
“...They’ve played very well early ... they’ve got off to some fast starts."
And the fast start hasn’t really been a part of the Broncos' offense this season. The Broncos won 11
games by seven or fewer points -- they were 11-3 in those games -- and were the first team in league
history to overcome three 14-0 deficits to come back and win games against teams that made the
playoffs.
Overall, though, the Broncos' offense put up a middle-of-the-road 67 points in the first quarter and only
had two games -- Dec. 6 against San Diego and Dec. 20 against Pittsburgh -- when they scored more than
a touchdown in the opening quarter. They scored 14 first-quarter points in both of those games.
“We want to do our part on offense to help our team win," Manning said. “Like I’ve said from the get-go,
our defense has gotten us to this point. Let’s make that very clear. But we want to do our part and
contribute ... we certainly want to try to carry our weight and not take our defense for granted."
The Broncos' defense finished the regular season No. 1 in total defense, No. 1 in pass defense and No. 1
in sacks, and the unit has also been one of the league’s best in the first quarter. The Broncos did not
surrender a first-quarter point until a Week 9 loss in Indianapolis in early November, and they
surrendered just 41 opening-quarter points all season.
Only five teams surrendered fewer first-quarter points than the Broncos did, with the New York Jets
having been the stingiest in the first quarter this past season.
“We pride ourselves in coming out ready to play," cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said. "You don’t want to
put your team in a bad place because you didn’t open the game right."
The last time the Broncos played in the Super Bowl, the offense’s start certainly reflected how the
remainder of the game went. On the Broncos’ first play from scrimmage in Super Bowl XLVIII, Manny
Ramirez' snap sailed past Manning for a Seattle Seahawks safety.
Manning had an interception returned for a touchdown in the second quarter and the Seahawks
returned the kickoff to open the third quarter for a touchdown as the Broncos rushed for 27 yards
overall in what became a 43-8 Broncos loss.
“That was two years ago," said Broncos running back C.J. Anderson. “ ... We’ve got another opportunity
coming up on Feb. 7 and we’re just going to try to take advantage of it. ... (The Panthers’ defense) is
really good. They’re fast, they’re physical and they’re strong. ... We’ve got to come out and have our Agame. If we don’t have our A-game, it could be a long game for us."
Louis Vasquez held out of practice; injured Broncos will
get full Super Bowl trip
By Jeff Legwold
ESPN.com
January 29, 2016
In addition to safety T.J. Ward and safety Darian Stewart, the Denver Broncos also held guard Louis
Vasquez out of Friday’s practice.
Vasquez has battled a knee injury for much of the second half of the season, but did not miss a game
this year. The Broncos did dial down Vasquez’s playing time some as the season wore on and the knee
became an issue, as he finished with 79 percent of the offensive snaps in what was at times a threeplayer rotation at guard with Evan Mathis and rookie Max Garcia.
The Broncos practiced indoors Friday on an artificial turf field, which impacted the decision to hold
Vasquez out of the workout. He is expected to practice Saturday.
“The fact we went inside was the biggest reason he didn’t practice," Kubiak said. “I think he would have
done something [Friday], we’ll see where he’s at [Saturday]."
Mathis (ankle) was limited in the practice, but the Broncos expect him to play in Super Bowl 50.
Kubiak said earlier this week the team intended to hold Stewart (right knee) and Ward (left ankle) out of
this week’s practices, but that both would likely get back on the practice field next week when the team
practices at Stanford University.
And in a bit of good news for the Broncos' players who are on injured reserve, and a departure from the
way the Broncos handled things in their last trip to the Super Bowl in the 2013 season, the team
announced that players who already have been moved to injured reserve will travel with the team
Sunday when the Broncos leave for California.
When the Broncos played in Super Bowl XLVIII the players on injured reserve, a group that included
Chris Harris Jr. and Von Miller, didn’t travel to the Super Bowl site until the Thursday before the game.
At the time, and since, many players expressed displeasure at the way that was handled.
This week, as he discussed missing the 35-point Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks because of a
knee injury, Harris said "it was strange to be here when everybody was there and we didn't go until late
in the week. It was very strange."
This time around, players like tackle Ryan Clady, safety David Bruton Jr., safety Omar Bolden, rookie
tight end Jeff Heuerman, and tackle Ty Sambrailo will spend Super Bowl week with the team and do any
injury rehab they need to do in California.
“I like this, I like this a lot better," Miller said. “Going late in the week, everything’s done already."
“We’re all in this together, there are guys we’ve lost through the course of the year ... they’ve been a big
part of us," Kubiak said. “One thing that I ask guys to do when they’re on IR is stay involved with the
team ... Everybody’s going Sunday, we’re all together, we’re going to do this together."
Watch out, Peyton: Cam Newton mastering QB mind
games
By Jeremy Fowler
ESPN.com
January 29, 2016
Body contortions into the end zone and supersized arm strength have become Cam Newton signatures,
but teammates don't focus on those things when discussing Newton's growth.
If Newton is to beat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, he'll be beating Peyton Manning at his best -the mind game.
After 12 years in the league, Panthers receiver Jerricho Cotchery knows the great NFL quarterbacks must
be in control of the offense before the ball is snapped. That's no problem at all for Newton, whose
Panthers scored 54 touchdowns this season.
This is 26-year-old Newton's biggest step in leadership, Cotchery said.
"Totally in control," Cotchery said. "Maturity-wise, he's definitely above the curve [for] a lot of guys his
age. You can see it by the way we move the ball."
Manning is known as a wizard at confusing defenses at the line of scrimmage. But Newton's Panthers
drew 18 defensive offside/encroachment/neutral zone penalties this year, compared with the Broncos'
13, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Newton's staccato hard count has contributed to this.
Receiver Ted Ginn Jr. was with Newton in 2013 and 2015. The second time around, Ginn says Newton
consistently gets the Panthers into the right play with audibles.
"That's a step," Ginn said.
Newton understands how to dissect defenses, detect potential problems and disguise offensive
strategy. He's not dabbing in the end zone without this ability because he wouldn't get there as
frequently.
"You don't always get to see those things from the outside, but he does a lot of things to get the offense
in the right position," Cotchery said.
Make no mistake, the Panthers' defense knows it has its challenges with Manning's pre-snap game.
That's why defensive lineman Charles Johnson is grateful for the Panthers' eight-man rotation that
should keep everyone fresh as Manning tries to get rid of the ball quickly.
"You know you're not losing a play because you know the guy behind you is the next best thing,"
Johnson said.
Do refs really swallow their whistles in the Super Bowl?
By Kevin Seifert
ESPN.com
January 29, 2016
Everyone knew a Hail Mary was coming. The Green Bay Packers' only hope to avoid the end of their
season was to heave a desperation pass into the end zone.
Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell put his pass-rushing hat on. He lined up wide of Packers
left tackle David Bakhtiari, jumped the snap and immediately achieved leverage underneath Bakhtiari's
left shoulder. As Campbell headed for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Bakhtiari put his left hand on
Campbell's right shoulder and subtly pulled him to the ground.
Rodgers spun away, giving receiver Jeff Janis enough time to get to the end zone and catch a game-tying
touchdown. Campbell looked around for a flag to confirm holding on Bakhtiari. Was referee Clete
Blakeman going to overturn an instantly iconic play because of holding 40 yards away? No. The game
went to overtime.
That sequence, in the NFL's divisional playoffs earlier this month, seems relevant as Super Bowl 50
approaches because it helped fuel a long-held assumption. Namely, that officials swallow their whistles
and "let them play" in the postseason.
"It happens," said Campbell, an eight-year veteran, after the Cardinals' 26-20 victory in overtime. "I
understand in the playoffs you don't want to call a lot of penalties. That's the way it goes. I like when
they let us play. But there were some that I thought could have been [called in that game]. But I respect
the referees. They do a good job."
Is that assumption true? Do penalty numbers really decrease in the playoffs? The answer is yes, in some
categories more than others and in numbers that vary from season to season. But in total, the penalty
stats tell a clear story.
The chart below, researched by Jacob Nitzberg of ESPN Stats & Information, reveals a 15-season trend.
Over that period, penalty calls -- including those that were declined or offset -- have dropped 18.4
percent in the first three rounds of the playoffs and 9.8 percent in the Super Bowl compared to regularseason averages.
Penalties Per Game, 2001-15
REG SEASON
Overall
14.86
Def. pass interference 0.88
Offensive holding
2.8
Behavior*
1.52
TOTAL
12.24
0.79
1.87
1.36
PLAYOFFS
12.13
0.81
1.74
1.33
PRE-SB SUPER BOWL
13.43
0.57
3.21
1.71
* Personal fouls, unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct and roughing the passer
Includes accepted, declined and offsetting penalties
Source: ESPN Stats & Information
Former NFL official and supervisor Jim Daopoulos, for one, openly acknowledged his playoff mindset:
"Let them play football."
Daopoulos, who officiated Super Bowl XXXIII and is now an ESPN analyst, added: "Just like the players
and coaches, you're on the biggest stage you've ever been on. It's a time that requires more
concentration than you've ever had before because of the implications. By the time you get to the Super
Bowl, you go in with the mindset that you want to make sure it's a foul.
"You want to make the big calls and not 'Mickey Mouse' these guys. Let them play football."
For further inspection, we pulled out three of the most frequent and damaging judgment calls an official
can make: defensive pass interference (DPI), offensive holding and what I call "behavior penalties." (A
combination of personal fouls, unsportsmanlike conduct, unnecessary roughness and roughing the
passer.) The average DPI penalty this season cost teams 15.3 yards; holding causes at least a 10-yard loss
and the rest are 15-yard penalties.
The most notable revelation was a 33 percent drop in the kind of holding penalties Bakhtiari avoided
against Campbell, a trend that has been even more pronounced in this season's playoffs. (The holding
average rose in Super Bowls because three games in that span produced at least five holding calls. The
other 11 games averaged slightly less than the regular-season average at 2.4 per game.)
There are at least a couple of caveats to consider here. First, there have been seasons when many of the
least-penalized teams in the NFL advanced to the playoffs. In 2015, for example, five playoff teams
committed among the six fewest penalties in the NFL this season, and nine of the 12 playoff entrants
finished in the top half of the league. It stands to reason that teams that commit fewer penalties in the
regular season are more likely to participate in low-penalty playoff games.
Second, there is no way to assess the officials' relaxation of judgment without knowing how much more
aggressively players are performing in anticipation of it. That seems especially true in cases of possible
pass interference, be it Cardinals cornerback Justin Bethel's grab of Janis a few plays before the Hail
Mary or the Denver Broncos' hands-on defense of New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski in a
game-deciding incompletion in the AFC Championship Game last week.
But suffice it to say, as we prepare for Super Bowl 50, linemen on both sides of the ball should consider
themselves forewarned.
Overall, the 2015 regular season was the NFL's most flag heavy year since 2005, when officials called
17.2 penalties per game. (They called 16.37 this season.) That jump was powered in part by an average
of 3.41 offensive holding calls per game, also the league's highest since 2005.
In the 10 playoff games to this point, however, holding has plummeted by 67.8 percent to 1.1 per game.
Blakeman's crew called only one in the Packers-Cardinals game, and that was on a punt. Based on the
variation in holding calls for past Super Bowls, it seems reasonable to assume that Blakeman's crew will
follow the same pattern in Super Bowl 50.
"It's such a subjective call," Daopoulos said. "When I was a supervisor, I always told the umpires who
made a lot of those calls for playoff games, 'Make sure it's big. Work with them. Coach them up if you
have to, if that will avoid them making mistakes.' You use your common sense there."
This acknowledgement, combined with the numbers, raises a fair philosophical question: Should the
NFL's championship be determined by the exact same parameters as its regular-season games? Or are
we all good with intensifying the focus on players, minimizing the officials and penalizing only the most
egregious of mistakes?
From my vantage point, the adjustment is welcomed and fair as long as the teams are aware of it. If
they've been tracking the numbers -- and they most certainly have -- it should come as no surprise.
Vendors struggling to move Super Bowl suites
By Darren Rovell
ESPN.com
January 29, 2016
The market may have bottomed out Friday morning for suites at Levi's Stadium for Super Bowl 50.
SuiteHop, a sports luxury box marketplace based in Denver, listed one suite for the game at $150,000.
That's the lowest price site founder Todd Lindenbaum recalls seeing a Super Bowl suite sell for.
"The NFL and the Super Bowl host committee thought that they could sell out by selling suites for
$500,000 to $1 million each," Lindenbaum said. "But at least for the ones still on the market, the pricing
wasn't going to hold up."
The $150,000 suite, which includes 16 tickets, food and beverage, works out to $9,375 per person,
which is cheaper than some club seats are going for.
Many suites did sell for high asking prices, given the wealth in Silicon Valley, but for the suites that were
still available a week ago, there was no movement.
Robert Smith of Dallas-based Sold Out Sports recently acquired some suites for the game.
"The original pricing was probably right for most of the suites, but once you get down to the final 10 or
so, where I think we are now, companies have to be incentivized by price to make a last-minute decision
to send many people to the game," Smith said.
The $150,000 suite is the lowest price Smith said he has seen in his six years trading in Super Bowl
suites.
"If we could sell what we have now for $150,000 a suite, I'd be damn happy about it," he said.
Smith said he wants to keep a couple of suites intact, but he already has broken up one suite and is
selling individual tickets, including food and beverage, through StubHub.
Weekend NFL preview: How Panthers, Broncos are
preparing for Super Bowl 50
By ESPN.com Staff
ESPN.com
January 29, 2016
Thirty teams have finished their seasons, and there's only one game remaining: Super Bowl 50. David
Newton and Jeff Legwold look ahead to what's in store for the Panthers and Broncos.
Carolina Panthers
Storyline to watch: There has been a lot of talk about how the Panthers will handle the number of times
Denver quarterback Peyton Manning is calling a real audible or blowing smoke before the snap. Carolina
coach Ron Rivera once told Manning he hopes the wily veteran someday writes a book telling everyone
the truth. Middle linebacker Luke Kuechly is spending countless hours studying Manning to make sure
he knows when the future Hall of Famer is changing a play for real or faking it, so that he can keep
Carolina in the right defense.
Injuries to monitor: None really. The team is as healthy as it can be before leaving for California on
Sunday. The biggest question will be how much the broken right forearm suffered by Thomas Davis
impacts his ability to make tackles and be on the field for every down. Davis doesn't seem worried, and
nobody may know for sure until the game gets underway.
Stat of the day: The Broncos led the NFL in sacks (52) and pressure percentage (35 percent of dropbacks)
during the regular season. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has thrown a career-high seven
touchdown passes when under duress this season. -- David Newton
Denver Broncos
Storyline to watch: The Broncos' offensive line has dealt with injuries and uncertainty for much of the
season, right from the time when left tackle Ryan Clady suffered a season-ending torn ACL in the
Broncos' first OTA workout in May. And guard Louis Vasquez' sore knee will bear watching in the coming
days. When the Broncos elected to practice inside on the artificial turf, Vasquez was held out of Friday's
practice. He is expected to practice when the team gets to California, but the knee injury has affected
his playing time. While he didn't miss a start, Vasquez played in 72 percent of the snaps and was held
out of practice at times throughout the season.
Injuries to monitor: Safety T.J. Ward (left ankle) and safety Darian Stewart (right knee) were held out of
Friday's practice. Both are still expected to practice next week and play in Super Bowl 50, as they did at
least some work in the walk-through portion of practice on Friday. Guard Evan Mathis, who has battled
an ankle injury for much of the season, has been limited some this past week, as well.
Stat of the day: The Panthers have started games fast this season -- they led their two playoff games by
a combined 31-0 at the end of the first quarter -- but the Broncos had one of the best first-quarter
defenses in the league. The Broncos surrendered just 41 points overall in the first quarter this season
and did not give up a first-quarter point until Week 9 in Indianapolis. -- Jeff Legwold
Which players could be gone from playoff teams?
By Bill Barnwell
ESPN.com
January 29, 2016
Recent history tells us that teams that win the Super Bowl follow that triumph by losing a number of key
players, often because of the sheer reality of the salary cap. Seven players who started for the 2012
Ravens in the Super Bowl were gone the next season. Nine of the Seahawks who started in their
blowout of the Broncos the subsequent year are no longer on the roster. And the 2014 Patriots lost their
top three cornerbacks (Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner and Kyle Arrington), Vince Wilfork and Shane
Vereen by the time Week 1 rolled around this season. There's just no way teams can hold on to all of
their Super Bowl contributors.
Of course, that problem isn't limited to Super Bowl winners. The salary cap comes back to bite just
about every competitive team over each offseason. Many veteran contracts are not guaranteed, so
teams can claw back much-needed cap space by turning unproductive veterans into cap casualties. It's
not a fun aspect of the league to discuss, but it's part of the business, and it's about to become very
relevant.
So, with one more game left before we hit the NFL offseason, let's run through the league's playoff
teams and identify players who could become cap casualties in the months to come. For each team, I'll
also include its expected salary-cap space heading into the offseason after accounting for the space from
this year that it gets to roll over into the 2016 season, using an estimated 2016 cap figure of $154
million. Because that number won't include re-signing any free agents, I'll include each team's key
pending unrestricted free agents, as well. The salary data in this piece comes from Spotrac.
Let's start in the desert, where the Cardinals seem to do their best shopping long after free agency is
over. (Possible cuts bolded in the text.)
Arizona Cardinals
2016 cap space: $16.9 million
Unrestricted free agents: CB Jerraud Powers, T Bobby Massie, S Rashad Johnson, RB Chris Johnson
The Cardinals seem likely to bring back the core of their team and make small investments at the
bottom of the veteran free-agent market. Sure, they could clear out $12.7 million in cap space by cutting
Carson Palmer and designating him as a post-June 1 release, but, even after his disastrous postseason,
that's not likely. (The post-June 1 designation allows a team to push any signing bonus acceleration onto
the next year's cap; otherwise, it would accelerate onto the present year's cap figure.) Backup Drew
Stanton is also an unrestricted free agent, which would seem to render that idea foolish unless the
Cardinals have faith in one of the coming free-agent options, such as Brock Osweiler.
A more plausible release would be inside linebacker Daryl Washington, who has been suspended for
each of the past two seasons and usurped in the starting lineup by Kevin Minter. Cutting Washington
and taking his $7.5 million salary off of the books would save $2 million for Steve Keim & Co.
Carolina Panthers
2016 cap space: $24.8 million
Unrestricted free agents: CB Josh Norman, CB Charles Tillman, S Roman Harper, FB Mike Tolbert
Could it be?
Is it finally the year Dave Gettleman can loosen the purse strings? For the first time since Gettleman
took over in 2013, he finally has a meaningful amount of cap space, albeit not as much as that number
might suggest. He'll surely earmark a good chunk of that space to lock up Norman, who emerged as one
of football's best cornerbacks this season and should expect a deal in the $14 million-per-year range.
Norman is one of three starters in the secondary to hit free agency this year, and, although the other
parts are far easier to replace, the Panthers probably will target a cheap veteran or two.
The good news is they can clear out another $8.5 million by releasing Jared Allen or allowing him to
retire; after acquiring him from the Bears, Carolina can release Allen without owing any dead money on
their cap. The only other theoretical dead cap figure would be defensive end Charles Johnson, whose
release could clear out $11 million if the Panthers wanted to move on. Given their need for passrushers, though, such a move seems unlikely at best.
Cincinnati Bengals
2016 cap space: $38.2 million
Unrestricted free agents: CB Leon Hall, S Reggie Nelson, T Andre Smith, S George Iloka, LB Vincent Rey,
CB Adam Jones, DE Wallace Gilberry, WR Mohamed Sanu, WR Marvin Jones
Who needs most of a secondary, anyway? The Bengals could lose four of their top five defensive backs,
as well as their second and third options at wideout, which is a testament to how much young talent
they've mined over the past few seasons. Given Cincinnati's near-total indifference to the veteran freeagent market, it seems likely the Bengals will use much of their cap space in tying up some of their free
agents-to-be, along with working on extensions for guard Kevin Zeitler and cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick,
who are entering the final year of their respective rookie deals.
With plenty of space, the Bengals don't really have a certain cap casualty. Instead, they could just clear
out money the old-fashioned way by releasing Rey Maualuga ($4.1 million) or Domata Peko ($3.8
million) without any hint of dead money on their cap for 2016.
Denver Broncos
2016 cap space: $16.6 million
Unrestricted free agents: LB Von Miller, DE Malik Jackson, G Evan Mathis, LB Danny Trevathan, QB Brock
Osweiler, T Ryan Harris, RB Ronnie Hillman
Now, here's the Super Bowl participant with a lot to do this offseason! The Broncos have managed to
keep together the core of their perennial playoff contender while adding much-needed free-agent help
to their defense, including stars such as Aqib Talib and DeMarcus Ware. The Broncos will have to dig
deep to retain the stars of their conference championship victory over the Patriots. Miller seems like a
likely target for the franchise tag, which would come in around $14 million, as the Broncos try to
negotiate a new long-term deal. That could cost them 26-year-old Jackson, who remains criminally
underrated as a 3-4 defensive end in Wade Phillips' defense.
And that's without getting to the thorny problem of finding a quarterback. The good news is the Broncos
can start clearing out cap space there. Denver can save a whopping $19 million by removing Peyton
Manning from the roster, either via his release or (likely) retirement. And that's not all. Another $8.9
million gets lopped off the books if Denver releases left tackle Ryan Clady, who has missed 30 of
Denver's past 48 games with various injuries. John Elway could clear another $10 million by cutting 33year-old DeMarcus Ware, but the Broncos likely won't need the space if they get rid of Manning or
Clady. Now, if they can only find a quarterback worthy of their attention ...
Green Bay Packers
2016 cap space: $32.1 million
Unrestricted free agents: LB Mike Neal, DT Letroy Guion, LB Nick Perry, DT B.J. Raji, CB Casey Hayward,
RB James Starks
Packers coach Mike McCarthy is reportedly "fed up" with general manager Ted Thompson's penurious
approach toward free agency, which is ironic for a coach whose conservative decision-making has cost
the Packers each of the past two postseasons. Barring a rare foray into the market for a targeted player
or two, Thompson should stay the course again this year, retaining several of the longtime Packers
above while continuing to build through the draft. Thompson manages his roster as well as anybody in
football, McCarthy's whims be damned.
Thompson's cap sheet is pristine, which leaves him without many bad deals to prune. His quickest route
to extra cap space would be releasing 36-year-old outside linebacker Julius Peppers, a move that would
turn his $10.5 million cap charge into a $2.5 million hit on Green Bay's cap, saving $8 million. Unless
Thompson breaks the bank by re-signing starting guards Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang (each in the final year
of his deal) to mammoth extensions, though, the Packers won't need the cap room that would come
with cutting Peppers.
Houston Texans
2016 cap space: $28.8 million
Unrestricted free agents: G Brandon Brooks, C Ben Jones, DE Jared Crick
Houston general manager Rick Smith will have money to work with for the first time in years after going
through a relatively painful stretch of cap woes. With J.J. Watt locked up, he can focus his attention
elsewhere. The most pressing need is a new contract for star wideout DeAndre Hopkins, who is entering
the final year of his rookie deal. The second-most pressing need is for a quarterback, but all the cap
space in the world might not be enough to get them anybody better than Brian Hoyer.
One way to clear out space would be to release stalwart running back Arian Foster, who is recovering
from a torn Achilles. Cutting Foster in the final year of his contract would save the Texans $6.6 million.
The likely departure of benched safety Rahim Moore would throw another $2.1 million into the well,
and dumping the aforementioned Brian Hoyer would save $4.9 million more. That adds up to $13.6
million, which is valuable space, but is that really money the Texans would be better off committing to
Osweiler, Stanton or Sam Bradford?
Kansas City Chiefs
2016 cap space: $35.8 million
Unrestricted free agents: S Eric Berry, CB Sean Smith, LB Derrick Johnson, LB Tamba Hali, G Jeff Allen, S
Husain Abdullah, DL Jaye Howard
That sure seems like a lot of cap space until you realize the Chiefs might be losing half of the league's
sixth-ranked defense. And that's without considering how they need to pay defensive tackle Dontari
Poe, who is entering the fifth and final year of his rookie deal. It's hard to imagine they'll let Berry leave,
but the emergence of Dee Ford probably allows the Chiefs to move on from 32-year-old edge rusher
Hali, and 33-year-old Johnson has an injury history that would seem to preclude John Dorsey from
offering a long-term deal, despite how well Johnson played coming back from injury this season.
The Chiefs also don't have many avenues toward clearing out extra cap space. A long-term deal for Poe
(currently with a $6.1 million cap charge) could generate a small amount of space if the Chiefs want, but
the only real plausible candidate for offseason release would be a painful name: star running back
Jamaal Charles. Cutting 29-year-old Charles after his second ACL tear would save Kansas City $5.3
million, and, although it would have seemed outlandish 12 months ago, the Chiefs did just fine with the
combination of Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware in the backfield this year. Then again, $5.3 million
isn't a lot of money for a player who did this in 2014. Cutting Charles would be a hard sell to me, and I'm
not even a Chiefs fan.
Minnesota Vikings
2016 cap space: $23.5 million
Unrestricted free agents: LB Chad Greenway, CB Terence Newman, G Mike Harris
General manager Rick Spielman has the Minnesota cap on point. The Vikings have one of the deepest
rosters in the league and can go in all kinds of different directions. If they want to spend money in free
agency, it's easy for them to clear out cap space. If they want to roll with the guys they have, they can
keep a few luxury items on the roster while easily making space to sign star safety Harrison Smith (in the
final year of his rookie contract) to a long-term extension.
My suspicion is that Spielman might want to make a move or two. He can facilitate that by lopping off
the two largest cap holds on Minnesota's roster. The Vikes can release Mike Wallace ($11.5 million) and
Matt Kalil ($11.1 million) without incurring any dead cap penalties. They can make another $10 million
free by dumping Phil Loadholt, who is coming off of a torn Achilles, and Captain Munnerlyn. In many
cases, this could be like-for-like swaps -- the Vikings are better off giving the $11.5 million they owe
Wallace to a free-agent wideout such as Alshon Jeffery.
New England Patriots
2016 cap space: $6.2 million
Unrestricted free agents: RB LeGarrette Blount, DT Alan Branch
When your most pressing free-agent concern is Blount, you know things are just fine. What's more
notable is the crop of players the Patriots have to sign to extensions before they hit unrestricted free
agency next year. Chandler Jones, Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins -- the athletic, emerging core of
New England's defense -- are all in the final years of deals. Jones and Hightower have a combined cap
hold of $15.5 million thanks to their fifth-year options, so the Patriots won't need to clear out a massive
amount of cap space to sign them to new deals. As a second-round pick, though, Collins is due to make
just $1.2 million in the final year of his rookie deal, with no possibility of a fifth-year option.
That likely leaves the Patriots in need of some cap space. But they have options. That starts with Jerod
Mayo, who didn't look healthy all season and played just 36.1 percent of New England's defensive snaps.
His release would save $7 million. Cutting Danny Amendola would generate $4.1 million. Marcus
Cannon, whom most Patriots fans would like to fire out of one after the AFC Championship Game, would
add another $3.7 million to the coffers. Brandon LaFell, who most Patriots fans wish would change his
last name to Cannon for purposes of the previous joke, would create another $2.7 million in space. You
get the idea.
Pittsburgh Steelers
2016 cap space: $11.2 million
Unrestricted free agents: DT Steve McLendon, G Ramon Foster, CB William Gay, LT Kelvin Beachum, CB
Antwon Blake
I wrote about Pittsburgh's cap problems earlier in January. The Steelers yet again will need to create cap
space by restructuring deals, although they can help that process along by releasing a few veterans.
They would save $4 million by releasing Heath Miller, whose $7.2 million cap hit for 2016 is higher than
those of Rob Gronkowski ($6.6 million), Delanie Walker ($5.3 million) and Greg Olsen ($5.1 million). Of
course, cutting a fan favorite who doesn't miss games might not be something they want to entertain.
Pittsburgh can generate $4.4 million by designating Cortez Allen as a post-June 1 release, pushing their
cap problems further down the line. Kicker Shaun Suisham likely will create $1.8 million more in cap
space when he's cut, and the Steelers likely will push most of the money for David DeCastro's extension
into the future to clear out more space.
Seattle Seahawks
2016 cap space: $29.1 million
Unrestricted free agents: LT Russell Okung, DT Brandon Mebane, LB Bruce Irvin, WR Jermaine Kearse, G
J.R. Sweezy, CB Jeremy Lane
General manager John Schneider has some interesting avenues of attack available to him this offseason.
He might be able to swoop in and re-sign Okung, who seemed out of Seattle's price range, if the market
doesn't want to invest after Okung underwent surgery for a dislocated shoulder. It helps that the
Seahawks almost certainly will save $6 million by moving on from Marshawn Lynch, whether by release
or retirement.
The more interesting decisions come with two of the team's highest-paid players. Schneider has said
he's bringing back tight end Jimmy Graham, but, with the former Saints star due $9 million and coming
off of a ruptured patella, that's an expensive risk to take on a player who wasn't a difference-maker
when healthy last year in Seattle. None of that $9 million is guaranteed.
And there's the fascinating case of Kam Chancellor, who manages to check all kinds of boxes. You can
make a case that Chancellor is underpaid given his track record, and you also can argue that the
Chancellor -- who was targeted and torched in pass coverage by teams such as the Bengals and Vikings
in the fourth quarter of Seahawks games last year -- is significantly overvalued. At $6.1 million,
Chancellor doesn't have an enormous cap hit, but he also wants a new deal. A trade might make the
most sense for all parties, which would create $4.1 million in cap space for the Seahawks and break up
the Legion of Boom for good.
Washington Redskins
2016 cap space: $9.2 million
Unrestricted free agents: QB Kirk Cousins, DT Terrance Knighton, RB Alfred Morris, LB Keenan Robinson
That cap figure means just about nothing. As much as general manager Scot McCloughan might want to
suggest that Washington is thinking about holding on to its third-string quarterback, there is a zero
percent chance that Robert Griffin III will be on the payroll in 2016 at his current cap hit of $16.1 million.
Much of that money likely will go to re-signing Cousins, either on a long-term deal or with the franchise
tag on a one-year contract for about $20 million.
There are plenty of other avenues for McCloughan to clear out room. Chris Culliver, a 2015 free-agent
addition, had $8 million in 2016 guaranteed money voided from his deal after an early-season
suspension before he promptly tore his ACL and MCL in practice. Washington can save a minimum of
$5.5 million on his deal by cutting Culliver, and it's money it can better use elsewhere. The team is
unlikely to hold on to safety Dashon Goldson, which would create an additional $8 million in cap space.
Marginalized wideout Andre Roberts would generate an additional $3 million, and Washington could
even give some thought to cutting Pierre Garcon, which would turn his $10.2 million cap hold into a $2.2
million penalty. That's $24.5 million in cap space. Now, Washington fans burned by years of mistakes
will just have to trust that McCloughan will spend the money wisely.
Which young stars from 2013 draft class might earn
extensions?
By Field Yates
ESPN.com
January 29, 2016
The Philadelphia Eagles didn't wait long to extend the contract of tight end Zach Ertz, announcing last
week a new deal for the former Stanford star through the 2021 season. The move was sensible, as Ertz is
a dynamic middle-of-the-field pass-catcher, but it was also notable for the timing.
Ertz, a second-round pick in 2013, became eligible for an extension after the Eagles' season ended. The
collective bargaining agreement permits drafted players to sign an extension as soon as after a player's
third NFL season. Ertz was the first member of the 2013 draft class to sign an extension.
The CBA also includes a fifth-year team option for all first-round picks, so while it's possible that some
first-rounders from 2013 will sign an extension this offseason, teams have two more years of contract
control, which means there is less urgency to strike a deal. Non-first-round picks sign contracts for just
four years, meaning Ertz was set to enter the final year of his deal in 2016.
Using Ertz's new deal as a springboard, here's a look at non-first-round picks from the 2013 draft class
who are candidates to receive extensions this offseason.
Kawann Short
Defensive tackle, Carolina Panthers
A theme of the 2015 offseason for Carolina was extending critical cogs on the roster. Cam Newton, Luke
Kuechly, Thomas Davis and Greg Olsen all received new contracts. No reason to veer from that path this
year, and a good place to start is Short. Calling him disruptive would be selling him short, as he's just a
nightmare to block for opposing interior offensive linemen. Short racked up 11 sacks and three forced
fumbles this year, but even his outstanding production doesn't tell the full story. He's a play wrecker
who lives in opponents' backfields. There may not have been a better defensive tackle in football in
2015.
Le'Veon Bell
Running back, Pittsburgh Steelers
There is no running back in football with a more complete skill set than Bell, in my opinion. He is a force
not only as a runner but also in the passing game. The best of Bell was on display during his 2014
breakout season, as he racked up 1,361 yards on 290 carries and added 83 catches for 854 yards. He's an
outlet for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger when plays break down or on designed throws. Bell can play
on all three downs and doesn't turn 24 until February. His yards-per-carry average has increased in each
NFL season (4.9 in 2015), and while the focus surrounding Bell right now is his recovery from a seasonending knee injury, a new deal would be a boon for both sides.
Jamie Collins
Linebacker New England Patriots
The do-it-all linebacker is everywhere for the Patriots; he is instinctive in the running game, a gifted
athlete who can cover space as a pass defender and a tremendous blitzer (as proven by his 7.5 sacks in
14 games this season, including the playoffs). Collins is the type of linebacker who doesn't need to leave
the field because of his complementary skill set, and he has strong on-ball production to boot. He hasn't
yet hit his peak as a player and is a Swiss Army knife upon whom defensive coordinator Matt Patricia
and coach Bill Belichick can rely. With fellow 'backer Dont'a Hightower, defensive end Chandler Jones
and cornerback Malcolm Butler also entering the final year of their deals this offseason, the Patriots
would be wise to think ahead to try to keep all of them can stick around. Organizationally, they have
managed the cap to open the door to such a possibility.
Tyrann Mathieu
Defensive back, Arizona Cardinals
Mathieu is recovering from a torn ACL, the second time he has sustained the injury in his career. He
bounced back once before, however, and has emerged as one of the most versatile and impactful
defensive backs in the league. Mathieu, 23, is listed as a safety but has the requisite coverage skills to
play cornerback -- where he starred in college -- at a high level. He can cover wideouts, play in the box
and almost always finds his way to the football. He recorded 17 pass breakups this in 2015, four more
than he had in his first two pro seasons combined.
Jordan Reed
Tight end, Washington Redskins
Prior to 2015, the biggest impediment to production for Reed was durability, as he missed 12 games
during his first two seasons. He played 14 games in 2015 and evolved into a megastar. What makes Reed
so dynamic is that, from an athleticism standpoint, he is essentially an oversized receiver. At 6-foot-2,
240 pounds, however, he's an exceptionally tough cover for linebackers and cornerbacks alike. A precise
route runner with terrific run-after-catch skills, Reed had at least 120 receiving yards and at least a
touchdown in three of his team's final five games (including the wild-card game). General manager Scot
McCloughan believes in building a roster through the draft.. Locking up Reed makes sense -- his price tag
will skyrocket if he plays in 2016 how he did during the final month of this season.
Darius Slay
Cornerback, Detroit Lions
The Lions have talent on all three levels of their defense, including the emerging Slay, who has length
and ability to hold up in man coverage. He picked off a pair of passes and defended another 13, but
sometimes it's a lack of production -- and opposing quarterbacks' unwillingness to throw at them -- that
can highlight a receiver's value. Slay and Quandre Diggs form a unique pair of dependable cornerbacks
for the Lions to anchor the secondary for years to come. New GM Bob Quinn arrived from New England,
an organization that puts a premium on draft and development.
Keenan Allen
Wide receiver, San Diego Chargers
A scary lacerated kidney injury cut short Allen's 2015 season, but the production before the injury was
astronomical. He piled up 67 catches in just eight games; staying on that pace for 16 games would've put
Allen third in the NFL in receptions with 134. He's not a consistent home run hitter (he has averaged
fewer than 11 yards per catch over each of the past two season), but Allen piles up first downs, as
precisely 60 percent of his career catches have moved the chains. Whether it's in San Diego or Los
Angeles, the Chargers must find a way to lock up members of their young core, which includes Allen.
Travis Kelce
Tight end, Kansas City Chiefs
At 6-foot-5, 260 pounds and with a load of athleticism, Kelce is a tremendous asset to the passing game.
He essentially redshirted his rookie season due to injury (he played in just one game), but he has been a
force in two seasons since, racking up 139 catches and 10 touchdowns. The Chiefs have notable
unrestricted free agents this offseason that include safety Eric Berry and linebacker Derrick Johnson, so
while an extension for Kelce may not top the list in terms of urgency, he's a player who has shown
enough in two healthy seasons to prove he can be a part of the long-term planning.
Five biggest NFL draft risers at Senior Bowl
By Scouts.com Staff
ESPN.com
January 29, 2016
This was one of the better weeks of Senior Bowl practices in recent memory. Phil Savage and his team
deserve a lot of credit for putting together two rosters with good talent from top to bottom.
Here are the players who helped their draft stocks the most in the three practices this week.
Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State
Wentz's physical tools are obvious. He's a big, strong kid with an awesome arm and good mobility. He
passed the test, showing he could make all the necessary throws. What's perhaps more impressive -- or
more revelatory -- is the way he carried himself. When he wasn't getting physical reps, he made a point
to listen to the call in the huddle so he could still get mental reps. You can tell Wentz just loves football.
Within a QB class that doesn't really have a clear-cut top guy right now, Wentz made a strong case to be
the No. 1 passer off the board. (And oh by the way, he did it while being coached by the staff of the
Dallas Cowboys, who pick at No. 4 overall and could be in the market to draft Tony Romo's long-term
successor.) It's hard to imagine this week going much better for Wentz.
Braxton Miller, WR/RS, Ohio State
Let's start with his size: As a wide receiver and return specialist, Miller's measurables (6-foot-1, 204
pounds) are exactly what NFL scouts are looking for. He has good length and he's lean, which enables
him to move effortlessly on the field. Miller wowed with his change-of-direction ability in both individual
drills and one-on-ones, looking the part of a polished wide receiver (check out the videos below). That's
impressive stuff for a guy who has been playing the position for less than a year. This was an important
week for Miller, who wasn't used a ton as a receiver in his final season at Ohio State (just 26 receptions)
and needed to prove to NFL scouts that he was more than just a gadget player at the next level. If his
tape from this week is any indication, Miller has the looks of someone who could really star at the
combine next month.
Sheldon Rankins, DT, Louisville
We've been trying to tell you about this guy for a while. Rankins followed up his best season at Louisville
with a standout performance in Mobile. On Wednesday, in particular, he was impossible for offensive
linemen to handle in one-on-ones, using his violent hands, impressive first step and powerful lowerbody to penetrate the backfield. In the process, he proved to any remaining doubters that he's more
than just a gap-plugger. At 6-foot-2, 303 pounds, Rankins -- who tweaked his knee Thursday and will not
play in Saturday's game -- displayed great movement ability for a guy his size. Combine Rankins' tape,
which shows he has plenty of scheme versatility, with his performance this week, and he's starting to
look more and more like a first-round talent.
Noah Spence, DE, Eastern Kentucky
Spence came to Mobile with a lot to prove after transferring from Ohio State due to two drug-related
suspensions, and he was flat-out dominant the last two practices of the week. He showed terrific burst
and explosiveness. You just don't find a lot of athletes who can dip and bend around the edge like him.
Spence is a better pass-rusher than run defender, but on several occasions this week, he displayed the
ability to stack and shed. There are obvious character concerns here -- and you can bet teams will dig
into his past to see if he's worth the risk -- but solely in terms of on-field ability, Spence has top-15
talent. He might be the best pure edge rusher in this class.
Jason Spriggs, LT, Indiana
Spriggs was the best pure left tackle prospect in Mobile. He passed the first test of the week, with his
arms measuring 34⅛ inches. That gives Spriggs a lot of upside, when you factor in his quick feet and
natural ability as a pass protector. He's not a road-grader in the run game -- and that's OK. NFL teams
will be enticed by his athleticism after watching him hold his own in one-on-one drills against a good
group of pass-rushers.
Ward, Stewart vow to return from injuries for Super
Bowl
By Pat Graham
Associated Press
January 30, 2016
T.J. Ward's Super Bowl guarantee doesn't exactly possess the same sort of sizzle as Joe Namath once
promising — and delivering — a win.
For the Denver Broncos, though, the strong safety's guarantee just might make the difference in one.
Ward vowed he would play a week from Sunday despite a tender ankle. Even more, free safety Darian
Stewart pledged to be back, too, after spraining the MCL in his right knee during a win over New England
in the AFC title game. Their health is the biggest question mark for Denver heading into Super Bowl 50
against Carolina.
Ask them, and there's really no uncertainty at all.
"Without a doubt in my mind, I'm playing," Stewart said.
Ward was just as adamant: "Anytime you get an opportunity to play in this game, and you can run a
little bit, I'm guaranteeing you're going to be out there."
Especially since this is basically a homecoming for Ward. He went to high school in Concord, California,
which is about 60 miles away from Levi's Stadium.
"There's something about where you come from — the air, the grass, the sounds — that brings up
memories," Ward said. "Sometimes, I'll be somewhere away from home and smell that grass and it
reminds me of playing Pop Warner. This is going to take me back of when I was dreaming of this
moment."
Only, now it's a reality.
But trying to bring down Panthers quarterback Cam Newton may prove to be a nightmare. These two
safeties could prove instrumental in containing Newton, who's 6-foot-5, 245 pounds and does just about
everything well.
"He's probably at all times one of the top-10 biggest players on the field," Ward said. "He's a talented
dude. He's got a big arm. He can run. Did he win MVP yet? Well, he's probably going to win the MVP. He
won the Heisman. He's a rare breed of athlete."
That's why Ward needs to be at 100 percent — or close to it anyway — for this top-ranked defense. He
could also see some time covering Greg Olsen, a tight end who " works well within that offense," Ward
explained. "He has great hands. He runs good routes. He seems to be a smart player."
Stewart banged up his knee midway through the third quarter, while Ward left early in the fourth. That
left backup safeties Shiloh Keo and Josh Bush to patrol the field against Tom Brady & Co.
Ward and Stewart have yet to practice this week and are listed as questionable on the injury report.
"Extra days are always needed for healing, so I definitely think it helps," Stewart said. "It's just getting
healthy and getting ready to play."
This has been a tumultuous season for Ward, who missed the first game of the season because of a
league suspension and three more later in the year with an ankle ailment. But he's been a playmaker
when he's been on the field. He finished the regular season with 61 tackles, two sacks and two forced
fumbles.
Stewart almost instantly fit in since joining the team this season. He intercepted Brady last weekend
before hurting his knee, an injury that doesn't have him all that concerned.
"Just getting as much treatment as I can and that's really the plan right now," Stewart said. "I mean, get
better along the way."
Same plan for Ward, because home is waiting.
"I can't wait to get back in the Bay Area so I can taste that Bay Area air," Ward said. "Get that home
feeling. Get the butterflies in your stomach.
"It doesn't really get too much more special than the 50th Super Bowl anniversary at home, in your
hometown. I don't think you can write a better story than that. Unless we win.
"When we win."
Super Bowl 50 features first No. 1 vs. No. 2 draft picks
By Arnie Stapleton
Associated Press
January 29, 2016
In 2011, the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos were picking through the rubble of seasons gone
horribly wrong — and a draft board that was unusually loaded with talent at the top.
The Panthers picked Cam Newton with the first overall pick and the Broncos chose Von Miller with the
second selection.
Five years later, they'll meet in the first matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the Super Bowl.
"I'm a fan of his," Newton said.
"I'm his biggest fan," said Miller.
While studying film of the top outside linebacker in the league, Newton said he's "trying to find any and
every way to alleviate him being a pain" come kickoff.
Miller said he's doing the same thing with the league's best QB.
Super Bowl 50 could very well hinge on which All-Pro prevails.
No matter who wins, it'll be a tale of both triumph and redemption.
Newton suggested for the first time Wednesday that race may play a factor in why he's become a
lightning rod for public criticism, and Miller, who's also black, said he can't fathom why anybody would
criticize Newton.
"I mean, for what, dancing after making big plays?" Miller asked. "I do the same thing."
Indeed, they both play the game with childlike cheerfulness, dancing or dabbing to celebrate their
success.
Each is a kid at heart, taking his role as loquacious locker room cut-up as seriously as he does his rank as
team captain.
"I don't think there's ever been another quarterback that plays the game the way he does, and
especially the way his personality is on the field," Miller said. "I'm just a big fan of everything he has
going for him. He's a huge role model."
They're even similar in build — Miller is 6-3, Newton 6-5, and both pack a lean 245 pounds.
Newton signed a five-year, $103.8 million contract last offseason, and Miller is in line for a megadeal this
offseason.
"If he played defense he probably would have gotten $220 million," Miller said of Newton. "Because he
can probably rush the passer and drop back and play safety and all that other stuff, too."
Their passion for the game helped both Miller and Newton navigate a minefield of bumps, lumps and
slumps on their spunky soar to superstardom.
Miller overcame a drug suspension to start the 2013 season and an ill-conceived plan to add 25 pounds,
which he now believes led him to tear his right ACL at the end of that season.
Re-establishing himself as one of the league's premiere pass-rushers, he's had 25 sacks over the past
two seasons.
Newton overcame a horrific-looking automobile accident in 2014 that left him with two fractures in his
lower back and imperiled his status as the league's dominant dual-threat quarterback.
They've met just once on the football field, in 2012, when Miller had six tackles, five for a loss and one
sack in Denver's 36-14 win. Newton completed 21 of 36 passes for two TDs, but threw two interceptions
and was sacked seven times.
Miller would later say he didn't remember a thing about John Fox's return to North Carolina that day
because it was "such a big deal for me going against Cam."
Unlike Miller, Newton has stayed clear of trouble since joining the NFL.
He set a rookie record for yards passing in a season while earning AP Offensive Rookie of the Year —
Miller won AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. No player has more combined yards from scrimmage
(21,470) and touchdowns (171) than Newton in his first five seasons in the league.
Newton may be a leading MVP candidate, but his journey to the top has had its share of speed bumps
and wrong turns.
Newton originally enrolled at Florida, but would leave after accusations that he stole a laptop. He
transferred to Blinn Junior College, which he guided to a national championship.
After he transferred to Auburn, the NCAA suspended Newton briefly in 2010 while investigating whether
his father Cecil had requested $180,000 on his son's behalf from someone acting as agent — in return
for Cam enrolling at Mississippi State.
However, the NCAA overturned the suspension and Newton went on to lead to the Tigers a national
championship and the Heisman Trophy in his only season for the Tigers.
"We all make mistakes. By yet, it's all about how you rebound from that mistake instead of just giving
up," Newton said.
Miller, who no longer carries all those extra pounds, agrees with the Panthers quarterback.
The league changed its drug policy in 2014. Instead of perpetually being one strike — even a missed
urine test — away from a lifetime ban from the NFL, Miller was discharged from the league's drug
program last summer after staying clean for two years.
So, the anvil turned into a carrot.
The man Broncos general manager John Elway calls "the best football player on the planet" is one win
shy of winning a world championship.
Miller long ago accepted Newton getting to hug the commissioner first on draft night.
What he wants now is to beat Newton to the stage to shake Roger Goodell's hand while accepting the
Lombardi Trophy.
Luke and Von: the linebackers who make a difference
By Barry Wilner
Associated Press
January 30, 2016
Luke and Von.
Sounds like a beach band from the Sixties, or maybe offshoots of the "Dukes of Hazzard."
In reality, Luke Kuechly and Von Miller are exactly what successful teams need in the NFL. The All-Pro
linebackers are versatile, fierce competitors, leaders and playmakers.
They will bear watching in the Super Bowl as much as Peyton Manning and Cam Newton.
Miller, the second overall draft pick in 2011, won Defensive Rookie of the Year that season.
Kuechly, chosen ninth overall the next year, succeeded Miller for that honor.
And in 2013, Kuechly was the league's top defensive player, an award both he and Miller are contenders
for this season.
More important than that individual recognition, each will tell you, are the team marks posted by
Kuechly's Panthers and Miller's Broncos during their short but already memorable careers: Carolina has
won three straight NFC South titles, and Denver has taken the AFC West in all five of Miller's pro
seasons.
"I'm a fan of him," Newton says of Miller. "Trying to find any and every way to alleviate him being a pain,
but that's what this week of preparation will be."
Better prepare diligently for Miller, or else that pain will be felt by just about everyone on the Panthers'
offense.
Consider the damage Miller wrought last Sunday in the AFC championship game. He had 2½ sacks, an
interception, constant pressure on Tom Brady, and was a force against New England's meager running
game.
Yes, Miller was everywhere, and it wouldn't be unfair to single him out as the biggest reason the
Broncos are in their second Super Bowl in three years.
His skills are such that defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is comfortable turning Miller loose on the
pass rush, dropping him in coverage — especially to cover tight ends — and lining him up almost
anywhere on the field.
Phillips has called Miller the defense's "catalyst."
"He has great explosion," Phillips said. "He's tremendously quick off the ball. He's probably the quickest
in the league. That helps him first. ... He has that tremendous speed, but it's explosive speed. Some guys
can run fast, but it's kind of straight-line speed.
"He's very athletic, can change directions and accelerate really quickly. Great running backs have the
same thing. They have that acceleration that they (use to) get through the hole.
"He's the same way as a pass rusher or a defensive player. He's there, they think that they can block him
and then he gets by them. He defeats his guy most of the time and most every play. That's hard to do in
this league."
Kuechly isn't as fast and might not be as strong as Miller. He isn't as dangerous on the pass rush with
seven career sacks in the regular season; Miller had 11 in 2015.
He also plays inside, while Miller is an outside linebacker.
None of which matters in big spots. Kuechly makes plays in the middle of the field or near the sideline.
He finds the ball — or, as Panthers cornerback and fellow All-Pro Josh Norman has said, "the ball finds
Luke."
And when the football is in his grasp, it's a good idea to look for him in the end zone. Kuechly has had a
pick-six in each of Carolina's playoff games this season. He excels at baiting quarterbacks into ill-advised
throws, though doing so against Manning is difficult.
Kuechly already has a catchy nickname: "Captain America". Miller eschews that kind of recognition.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera, a former NFL linebacker himself, sees a victory next weekend as just another
step for his star defender. His comments also could just as easily apply to Miller.
"There are a lot of great players who never got to play in a Super Bowl, so whether you have to have
that Super Bowl to cement who you are or what you're worth," Rivera said.
"I don't think Luke is really worried about that. But I think it just kind of fast-tracks you and people take
a lot quicker notice. At the end of the day you can say on your business card 'Super Bowl champion.' I
mean that's probably the next thing.
"As far as what he'll mean to this game in 10 years, I think it will help in terms of recognition, but I think
it will be real hard to pass him up just based on the way he's played in just his first four seasons."
As we get closer to the big game, the hype machines will spiral out of control. Know this before they
even get started, though: Luke and Von have nothing to do with old-time rock or down-home TV.
They're all about turning the tide on a football field. What better stage than Super Bowl 50 for them to
strut their stuff?
Peyton Manning a Panther? Carolina tried, but failed in
'98
By Steve Reed
Associated Press
January 29, 2016
If the Carolina Panthers had their way, maybe Peyton Manning would be playing for them — not against
them — in the Super Bowl.
When Manning was coming out for the 1998 draft, the Panthers approached Indianapolis Colts general
manager Bill Polian with a megadeal offer.
It included trading fourth-year quarterback Kerry Collins and multiple draft picks, including their firstround selection that year, for the right to take Manning with the No. 1 overall selection.
Carolina was hoping Polian, who had drafted Collins just three years before while working as the GM for
the Panthers, would pull the trigger on the deal.
Problem was, Polian wouldn't even consider the offer.
"Bill was dead set against it," said Dom Capers, Carolina's head coach at the time who was also given
control of personnel decisions when Polian left the team after the 1997 season.
"He was set on keeping the pick. You never know on those kinds of things — but sometimes you have to
try."
Polian said he had his heart setting on drafting Manning.
"There wasn't anything they could give us that was going to replace Peyton Manning," Polian said.
Capers, now the defensive coordinator with the Green Bay Packers, said he was "blown away" after
meeting Manning at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis in February 1998.
Manning walked into the interview with a yellow notepad, sat down and started asking Capers
questions.
"He left the room and I sat there in amazement," Capers said. "It was like he was interviewing me for an
hour. He was incredibly professional, focused and you just knew right then he was going to be a player."
Apparently, so did Polian.
The Colts at the time already had running back Marshall Faulk, wide receiver Marvin Harrison and
offensive tackle Tarik Glenn on the roster and Polian felt all they needed was a quarterback.
He liked Manning over Collins, whom he selected with the fifth overall pick in 1995.
"We liked Kerry, but we didn't feel like it was a fair return," Polian said. "We felt Peyton had so much
potential. Honestly, there was nothing anybody could have offered us that would have made us decide
to move the pick."
Said Capers: "Bill knew what he had with the No. 1 pick in Peyton. We tried. We talked with Bill, but Bill
just wasn't going to do it. He thought Peyton was going to be something special — and he proved him
right."
Manning is expected to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
The five-time league MVP will be playing in his fourth Super Bowl when the Denver Broncos meet the
Panthers on Feb. 7 in Santa Clara, California.
"He's going to go down if not the greatest, one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play this game,"
Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis said.
Said Capers: "If you took one of the top five offensive coordinators and put him under center that is
what it would be like. He's so cerebral."
Not long after Polian selected Manning over Ryan Leaf with the No. 1 pick, the Colts and Panthers
organizations headed in two different directions.
The Colts became a mainstay in the playoffs, reaching the postseason 11 of the next 13 seasons under
Manning and won the Super Bowl after the 2006 season.
The Panthers would go five seasons before even making the playoffs.
They selected defensive end Jason Peter with the 14th overall pick in 1998. But he retired after the 2001
season.
Collins, who had been accused of using a racial slur by a teammate in 1997, found more problems on
and off the field.
He was cut by the Panthers midway through the 1998 season after Capers told reporters the
quarterback walked into his office and told him he'd lost the desire to play.
A year later, Collins was arrested for DUI while a member of the New Orleans Saints.
Collins would get things straightened out though and play 17 seasons in the NFL, leading the New York
Giants to an appearance in the Super Bowl.
As for Capers, he handed the job to Steve Beuerlein after Collins was released, but the Panthers finished
4-12 in 1998 and he was fired by owner Jerry Richardson.
Capers laughed when asked if the deal for Manning had gone through if his tenure in Carolina might
have been longer.
"You never know," Capers said. "That is one thing about this business — you just never know. Those
kinds of decisions have tremendous impacts on an organization."
As for Polian, he said with a laugh, "I think I made the right call."
Unlike others, Super Bowl coaches avoiding secondguessing
By Howard Fenrich
Associated Press
January 29, 2016
Even those NFL coaches who are, in theory, the very best around have been making some decisions this
postseason that made folks jump up from their couches and scream "Why?!"
Ron Rivera of the Carolina Panthers and Gary Kubiak of the Denver Broncos certainly hope to avoid that
in the Super Bowl.
Then again, given the way they've managed things so far this season, there is little reason to suspect
they'll make a memorable gaffe on the sport's most important stage next weekend.
Kubiak is only the seventh coach to go to the big game in his first season with a team, handling the
"Should the QB be an ineffective Peyton Manning or an inexperienced Brock Osweiler?" situation with
aplomb for months.
Rivera, who some thought was close to being fired not too long ago, has pulled all the right strings in
guiding the Panthers to a 17-1 record and role of favorite on Super Sunday.
"When you've only lost one game, you're probably making some pretty good decisions," former NFL
player and head coach Herm Edwards said with a chuckle. "If you win the game, you're not going to be
second-guessed as much."
Makes sense. But take a glance at social media during any NFL playoff game, and there is plenty of
questioning of coaching going on.
It's happened over and over, even from the likes of the sport's universally acknowledged "genius," Bill
Belichick, whose New England Patriots lost to Kubiak's Broncos 20-18 in the AFC championship game.
Belichick drew his share of criticism for passing up field-goal opportunities in the fourth quarter and
instead letting Tom Brady and the offense go for it on fourth down — and failing.
"You look at that situation and you go, 'Well, OK, if you kicked the (earlier) one, then he probably would
have won the game.' That's easy to say after the fact," Edwards said. "But he put the ball in the hands of
his best player, and in that game, I think he just felt: 'Got 'em on the ropes right now, we're going to try
to make it.'"
There sure is more temptation for hindsight when the ultimate result doesn't go a coach's way, of
course.
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid was lambasted for overseeing a slow-as-molasses offense that
basically gave itself no chance to erase a fourth-quarter deficit in a 27-20 loss to the Patriots in the
divisional round.
Another example came right at the start of the postseason, when the Houston Texans were still facing
only a surmountable deficit in what would become a 30-0 wild-card loss to those Chiefs.
Down near the end zone, Bill O'Brien's club sent in J.J. Watt for a wildcat formation, with Vince Wilfork
blocking, and the run play got stuffed. On the next play, the Chiefs intercepted Brian Hoyer, and that
was that.
Then there was Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians' choice to play a cover-zero defense and send an
all-out blitz on the last play of regulation against the Green Bay Packers; as everyone knows, Aaron
Rodgers took advantage of that strategy by throwing a desperation pass for a tying touchdown. At least
Arians' team won 26-20 in overtime.
Clock management, timeout usage, whether to try to run the ball late while leading to drain time off the
clock instead of risking stopping it with an incomplete pass — all of those sorts of decisions go into
coaching a winning team.
And all can give rise to bad-mouthing.
"That's part of the game. Part of the job. Everyone has an opinion," said Edwards, who made a total of
four trips to the playoffs during stints coaching the New York Jets and the Chiefs from 2001-08.
"You don't get caught up as much in that as a coach. As that game's being played out, you figure out
what your strengths are when you have to make decisions. You don't rely on what people think you
should do, and the players understand that. They trust you."
Other than what could have been a disastrous second half in the divisional round against the Seattle
Seahawks, when a 31-0 halftime lead dwindled to 31-24, Rivera has generally avoided being called out
for sideline mistakes.
And Kubiak gets credit for overseeing a team that has won 11 of its 14 games this season that were
decided by seven or fewer points.
"There's a purpose to everything he does, and there's a reason to everything he does. He just doesn't do
things to do things," said John Elway, Kubiak's boss with the Broncos. "And as a player, you respect that,
and I respected that. That, to me, is why he's been successful."
SUPER BOWL: Profiles of key players
By Barry Wilner
Associated Press
January 29, 2016
Projected starters and key players for the Super Bowl at Santa Clara, California:
CAROLINA PANTHERS
OFFENSE
Cam Newton, QB (1), 6-5, 245, 5th season, Auburn
A front-runner for MVP honors, passed for 35 TDs and ran for 10 ... Has been dynamic in playoffs with
three TD passes and two runs ... Strong in the pocket, elusive and powerful outside of it ... Likes to show
off how much fun he is having, especially after Panthers touchdowns.
Jonathan Stewart, RB (28) 5-10, 235, 8th season, Oregon
Became the true No. 1 runner this season when DeAngelo Williams departed ... Rushed for 989 yards
and six TDs during season, had 59-yard sprint on Panthers' first play of postseason ... Strong runner with
a burst to break big plays.
Mike Tolbert, FB (35), 5-9, 245, 8th season, Coastal Carolina
All-Pro fullback who is solid blocker and receiver ... Can play halfback when needed and did when
Stewart was injured during season ... Scored four times during season.
Ted Ginn Jr., WR (19), 5-11, 185, 9th season, Ohio State
Resurrected his career in second stint with Carolina ... Has overcome penchant for drops to use his
speed and improved routes to have his best season ... Also a dangerous punt returner with 32-yarder to
set up own 22-yard TD run vs. Arizona.
Philly Brown, WR (10), 5-11, 185, 2nd season, Ohio State
Real name is Corey, got nickname in college from then-Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel ... Speed is his
strength, broke an 86-yard TD reception against Cardinals ... Scored four TDs in regular season, has one
in playoffs.
Greg Olsen, TE (88), 6-5, 252, 9th season, Miami
Among the most valuable tight ends in football, Newton's favorite target ... Versatile, can get open deep
or short, over middle or outside ... Already has 12 catches in postseason, one TD ... Made 77 receptions
for 1,104 yards and seven touchdowns in regular season.
Michael Oher, LT (73), 6-4, 315, 7th season, Mississippi
Yes, the "Blind Side" guy ... Already has won a Super Bowl, with Baltimore in 2013 game, but has never
become a star ... Had one mediocre season with Tennessee after five years with Ravens before Panthers
added him.
Andrew Norwell, LG (68), 6-6 325, 2nd season, Ohio State
Has emerged quickly on a vastly improved blocking unit ... Undrafted free agent who became starter for
nine games in 2014, then started 13 times this season.
Ryan Kalil, C (67), 6-2, 300, 9th season, Southern California
All-Pro for a second time (2013) ... Excellent in pass protection, smart and durable ... Rarely is
overpowered ... Has started every game he's played since 2008 ... Brother Matt plays tackle for Vikings.
Trai Turner, RG (70), 6-3, 320, 2nd season, LSU
Most-improved blocker on Panthers ... Had strong regular season and has been even better in playoffs ...
Third-round pick who took over position for good midway through 2014 ... Strong, aggressive, doesn't
get intimidated.
Mike Remmers, RT (74), 6-5, 306, 3rd season, Oregon State
Has been with half-dozen teams in short career ... 2015 his first season as starter after mostly being on
practice squads ... Some considered Remmers weakest link on line, but he's been steady in postseason.
___
DEFENSE
Charles Johnson, DE (95), 6-2, 282, 9th season, Georgia
One of NFL's highest-paid defenders ... Has two sacks in the postseason, but has been inconsistent as
pass rusher ... Was activated from injured reserve/designated for return in November after missing
seven games (hamstring).
Kawann Short, DT (99), 6-3, 315, 3rd season, Purdue
Among the league's best, his 11 sacks tied for most for position in NFL ... Became starter for nine games
in '14 and hasn't looked back ... Made 55 tackles in regular season, impressive for a DT.
Star Lotulelei, DT (98), 6-2, 320, 3rd season, Utah
Sometimes overshadowed by Short, but is very reliable ... First-round pick in 2013 who doesn't pile up
statistics — he helps his teammates do so by occupying blockers.
Jared Allen, DE (69), 6-6, 270, 12th season, Idaho State
Veteran seeking first ring ... Was traded by Bears after three games this season, found a home in
Carolina ... His 136 sacks rank ninth all-time, and he says he remembers nearly every one ... Missed NFC
title game with broken foot, expects to play in Super Bowl.
Kony Ealy, DE (94), 6-4, 275, 2nd season, Missouri
Second-round pick who had so-so rookie season, came on in 2015 but has not been a dominator ... If
Allen is hobbled, Ealy will need to play more and pick up his game.
Mario Addison, DE (97), 6-3, 260, 5th season, Troy
Has had strong playoffs after good season ... Can get to passer, had six sacks during regular season ...
Played for three teams in first two pro seasons, has been in Carolina since 2012.
Thomas Davis, LB (58), 6-2, 235, 11th season, Georgia
Terrific leader, All-Pro outside backer who broke right forearm in NFC title game ... Had surgery and
expects to suit up for Super Bowl ... Has overcome series of knee surgeries, was NFL's Man of the Year in
2014 ... Was in on 105 tackles ... Longest-tenured Panther.
Luke Kuechly, LB (59), 6-3, 238, 4th season, Boston College
A tackling machine, the All-Pro linebacker also has two interception returns for TDs in playoffs ...
Perennially among league leaders in tackles, had 118 this season while missing three games ... 2012
Defensive Rookie of Year and won top defensive player in 2013.
Shaq Thompson, LB (54), 6-0, 230, 1st season, Washington
Rookie who played safety in college ... Panthers drafted him 25th overall and moved him to linebacker ...
Came on at end of season, seems to have settled in at position.
Robert McClain, CB (27), 5-9, 195, 5th season, Connecticut
Journeyman who has been with two other teams after being selected in seventh round in 2011 by
Panthers ... Returned in December when Bene Benwikere was lost for season, has been solid ... Peyton
Manning will be looking his way often.
Josh Norman, CB (24), 6-0, 195, 4th season, Coastal Carolina
Manning might not be looking Norman's way. All-Pro has been among best shutdown cornerbacks this
season ... Sometimes gets too aggressive — remember ugly feud with Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. in
December — but has superb coverage skills ... His matchup with either Demaryius Thomas or Emmanuel
Sanders will be highlight.
Cortland Finnegan, CB (26), 5-10, 190, 10th season, Samford
Rugged veteran who helps best when he keeps his cool ... No longer a great coverage guy, but hits hard,
understands positioning and reads QBs well ... Released by Miami in March, was out of football until
Panthers called in November.
Roman Harper, S (41), 6-1, 205, 10th season, Alabama
Veteran who damaged eye against Arizona but has returned to practice ... Durable and dependable, has
started all 16 regular-season games since joining Panthers ... Forceful tackler, especially coming forward.
Kurt Coleman, S (20), 5-11, 200, 6th season, Ohio State
Having by far the best season of previously checkered career ... Played for Panthers defensive
coordinator Sean McDermott for one season in Philadelphia ... Tied for NFC lead with seven picks, then
had two in conference championship.
___
SPECIAL TEAMS
Graham Gano, K (9), 6-2, 205, 6th season, Florida State
Gano finished second in NFL in points with 146, and is good, not great, from long range ... Missed three
PATs in 2015 ... Went 30 of 36 on field goals, with long of 52.
Brad Nortman, P (8), 6-2, 215, 4th season, Wisconsin
Middle of the road punter who had fine gross (45.4 yards per kick), but a 39.8 net, which says something
about coverage teams ... A rare punter who was drafted (sixth round, 2012).
___
DENVER BRONCOS
OFFENSE
Peyton Manning, QB (18), 6-5, 230, 18th season, Tennessee
Is this the final game for the Hall of Fame-bound Manning? ... Only player to win five MVP awards ...
Came off torn plantar fascia, took back job in season finale from Brock Osweiler, and led two playoff
victories ... Never should be underestimated ... This is fourth Super Bowl for Manning, who won with
2006 Colts.
C.J. Anderson, RB (22), 5-8, 224, 3rd season, California
A godsend for Broncos, who came from nowhere to seize starting job in 2014 ... Short but stocky and
powerful, also has nice burst ... Knows how to find end zone.
Ronnie Hillman, RB (23), 5-10, 195, 4th season, San Diego State
Not as consistent or reliable holding onto ball as Anderson ... Led team with 863 yards rushing, but has
been used sparingly in postseason ... Third-round pick in 2012 who hasn't broken out.
Demaryius Thomas, WR (88), 6-3, 229, 6th season, Georgia Tech
When he holds onto the ball, Thomas is among most dangerous receivers in NFL ... Tall and rangy, uses
his size well ... For much of recent seasons, was favorite target of Manning ... Made 105 receptions for
1,304 yards and six TDs this season.
Emmanuel Sanders, WR (10), 5-11, 180, 6th season, SMU
Also had some drops vs. Pittsburgh, but was much better against New England ... Best deep threat for
Manning ... Has 10 catches for 147 yards in postseason ... Plays bigger than his size.
Bennie Fowler, WR (16), 6-1, 212, 1st season, Michigan State
Manning's confidence in the newcomer has grown ... Fowler has ability to make big plays, averaging 17.5
yards on two playoff catches ... Rookie free agent in 2014 who was on practice squad and appears to
have learned his trade.
Owen Daniels, TE (81), 6-3, 245, 10th season, Wisconsin
The perfect tight end for Manning, who loves to throw over the middle and in the red zone to TEs ...
Daniels was a standout in Houston for eight seasons, played one year with Baltimore, then joined
Broncos ... Had 46 catches, three touchdowns during season, and already has two TDs in playoffs.
Ryan Harris, LT (68), 6-5, 302, 9th season, Notre Dame
Harris has had to replace Pro Bowl tackle Ryan Clady, a difficult chore, and protect Manning's blind side
... Uses savvy and experience as much as physicality ... Played four years in Denver, two for Houston,
one for Kansas City before returning to Broncos this season.
Evan Mathis, LG (69), 6-5, 298, 10th season, Alabama
An All-Pro in Philadelphia who forced his way out, rarely gets beaten in passing game ... Versatile, good
fundamental blocker ... Can get worn down.
Matt Paradis C (61), 6-3, 300, 1st season, Boise State
Imagine being a first-year guy snapping the ball to Manning. That's Paradis, a practice squad player in
2014 after being drafted in sixth round ... Struggles at times as blocker and might have issues with Short
and Lotulelei.
Louis Vasquez, RG (65), 6-5, 335, 7th season, Texas Tech
Signed away from division-rival San Diego in 2013 as free agent ... Was All-Pro that year as Broncos
made Super Bowl ... First Denver guard to make All-Pro.
Michael Schofield, RT (79), 6-6, 301, 2nd season, Michigan
First-year starter after spending rookie season without an appearance ... Third-round pick who does his
best work in the running game.
___
DEFENSE
Derek Wolfe, DE (95), 6-5, 285, 4th season, Cincinnati
Has best season with 49 tackles, 5½ sacks in 12 games ... Benefits from single blocking by opposition ...
Already has two sacks in postseason.
Vance Walker, DE (96), 6-2, 305, 7th season, Georgia Tech
Highly serviceable rotation player ... With fourth pro franchise ... Only season as a starter was 2013 in
Oakland ... Signed as free agent before this season.
Sylvester Williams, DT (92), 6-2, 313, 3rd season, North Carolina
Massive space-eater who is beginning to justify first-round selection in 2013 ... Won't get many stats,
but clogs the middle vs. run game, frees up linebackers to make plays ... Has career-high three sacks this
season.
Malik Jackson, DE (97), 6-5, 293, 4th season, Tennessee
Underrated defensive lineman with a knack for big plays ... Had 45 tackles and five sacks in 2015 ...
Started every game this season.
Antonio Smith, DE (90), 6-3, 290, 12th season, Oklahoma State. Veteran who brings savvy and
aggression to the D-line ... Productive wherever he has played (four teams) ... Was on 2008 NFC
champion Cardinals.
Von Miller, LB (58), 6-3, 250, 5th season, Texas A&M
All-Pro and one of best defenders in league ... Hellacious pass rusher, but also can drop in coverage ...
Made life miserable for Tom Brady in AFC title game ... Second overall draft pick in 2011 — behind Cam
Newton.
DeMarcus Ware, LB (94), 6-4, 258, 11th season, Troy
Ware's name already in Hall of Fame conversation for down the road ... Spent first nine pro seasons in
Dallas, getting 127 sacks ... Made only 25 tackles in 11 games this season, but 7 1-2 were sacks, has 1 1-2
sacks in postseason.
Brandon Marshall, LB (54), 6-1, 250, 4th season, Nevada
Jets WR with same name gets more publicity, but this Brandon Marshall is a stud, too ... Became starter
in 2014 and had sensational season, was nearly as productive in '15 ... Drafted by Jaguars in 2012, went
to Denver practice squad before breaking through.
Danny Trevathan, LB (59), 6-1, 240, 4th season, Kentucky
Like Marshall, Trevathan doesn't always get his due, but he's solid ... Had breakout 2013 season when
Broncos made Super Bowl, was injured for most of '14, made strong comeback this season ... had 109
tackles and two picks in 2015.
Aqib Talib, CB (21), 6-1, 205, 8th season, Kansas
Physical, aggressive cornerback ... Sometimes loses focus, but when on his game, he excels ... Could
wind up covering Greg Olsen at times ... Despite playing past four seasons with either Broncos or
Patriots, has not been to previous Super Bowl.
Chris Harris Jr., CB (25), 5-10, 199, 4th season, Kansas
Talib gets much of the notice, but Harris is the Broncos' top CB ... Undrafted free agent in 2011 who has
consistently made his mark in NFL ... Tore ACL in 2013, yet has started every game in past two years.
Bradley Roby, CB (29), 5-11, 194, 2nd season, Ohio State
Hard-hitter with knack for finding ball ... First-round draftee who supports run defense well ... Pretty
versatile ... Had habit of overpursuing early on, seems to have licked it.
T.J. Ward, S (43), 5-10, 200, 6th season, Oregon
Has started every game he's played (81) ... Second-round pick by Cleveland in 2010, signed as free agent
by Denver in 2014 ... Good tackler, disruptive in opposing backfields.
Darian Stewart, S (26), 5-11, 214, 6th season, South Carolina
First season with Denver after four with St. Louis, one with Baltimore ... Solid contributor who had 63
tackles, 10 passes defensed, two fumble recoveries ... Works well with Ward in middle of secondary.
___
SPECIAL TEAMS
Brandon McManus, PK (8), 6-3, 201, 2nd season, Temple
Very strong leg ... Coaches have faith in him from long distance ... Has made seven field goals in
postseason ... Went 30 for 35 on FGs, with a 57-yarder.
Britton Colquitt, P (4), 6-3, 205, 7th season, Tennessee
High-priced punter so-so season, but has performed well in playoffs ... Career punting leader for Denver
... Brother Dustin kicks for Chiefs.
Andre Caldwell, KR (12), 6-0, 200, 8th season, Florida
A fourth wideout, Caldwell took over role on kickoff returns previously held by injured Omar Bolden ...
Actually had a better return average (23.1 yards) than did Bolden (22.8).
NFL says concussions way up in 2015; will study reasons
why
By Howard Fendrich
Associated Press
January 29, 2016
The NFL says reported concussions rose 58 percent in regular-season games to the highest number in
any of the past four years.
The league issued its concussion data for 2015 on Friday, a little more than a week before the Super
Bowl, and it showed that helmet-to-helmet hits were also way up.
Jeff Miller, the NFL's senior vice president of health and safety policy, said during a conference call the
league will study what might have caused the incidence of head injuries to rise so much this season.
Among the possible explanations mentioned by Miller were a doubling in the number of players
screened for possible concussions, "unprecedented levels of players reporting signs and signals of
concussions," and the fact that trainers who work as spotters or independent neurologists on sidelines
"are much more actively participating in identifying this injury."
According to the NFL, there were 182 reported concussions from 2015 regular-season games, reversing
a recent downward trend. There were 115 in 2014, 148 in 2013, and 173 in 2012.
A year ago, the league touted those decreases as a reflection of players changing the way they play.
Rather than a discussion about the possibility that there were simply more concussions this season and
what could have led to that, the emphasis during Friday's call was on what the league and doctors
touted as more efficient identification of head injuries during games.
"I see coaches report players and pull them out of the game. I see players report themselves. I see
players report each other," said Richard Ellenbogen, co-chairman of the NFL's head, neck and spine
committee.
"Clearly," Ellenbogen added, "we've lowered the threshold for diagnosing concussion, for pulling players
out and evaluating them."
While reports of concussions from helmet-to-helmet impacts sank from 91 in 2012, to 72 in 2013, to 58
in 2014, that figure climbed back up to 92 this season, a 58 percent rise that mirrors the overall increase
in head injuries.
Looking at all sorts of injuries, there were a total of 1,672 during regular-season games in 2015 that
resulted in missed time, the NFL told The Associated Press on Friday. That works out to roughly one per
player leaguewide.
Chairman says Chargers to stay in San Diego in 2016
By Bernie Wilson
Associated Press
January 29, 2016
Chargers Chairman Dean Spanos said Friday that the team will play in San Diego in 2016, and he'll work
with politicians and the business community to try to resolve a long, bitter fight over a new stadium.
Spanos' statement was posted on the team website shortly after the Union-Tribune reported that the
Chargers had agreed in principle to join the Los Angeles Rams in a stadium expected to open in
Inglewood in 2019.
It also came shortly after Spanos invited Mayor Kevin Faulconer and County Supervisor Ron Roberts to
his La Jolla home for an afternoon meeting.
"I am committed to looking at this with a fresh perspective and new sense of possibility," Spanos'
statement said.
A spokesman for Faulconer said Mark Fabiani, who has led the Chargers' stadium push for 15 years, was
not at the meeting. It wasn't immediately clear if Fabiani, who has attacked Faulconer's proposals for
the last year, will be involved when negotiations resume.
Spanos' announcement was a relief to fans who feared the Chargers would leave their home of 55
seasons and join the Rams in Los Angeles in the fall.
Spanos said he hoped the Chargers would remain in San Diego "for the long term in a new stadium."
"I have met with Mayor Faulconer and Supervisor Roberts and I look forward to working closely with
them and the business community to resolve our stadium dilemma," Spanos said. "We have an option
and an agreement with the Los Angeles Rams to go to Inglewood in the next year, but my focus is on San
Diego.
"This has been our home for 55 years, and I want to keep the team here and provide the world-class
stadium experience you deserve. Everyone on both sides of the table in San Diego must now determine
the best next steps and how to deploy the additional resources provided by the NFL."
Spanos' announcement came more than two weeks after NFL owners voted to approve Rams owner
Stan Kroenke's plans to build a stadium in Inglewood, near Los Angeles. A competing proposal by Spanos
and Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis to build a stadium in Carson was defeated.
While the owners gave Spanos the option to relocate to Los Angeles, the league said the Chargers and
Raiders would each get an additional $100 million to try to get new stadium deals in their home
markets. That money is in addition to a $200 million loan from the league available to each team.
"We are very supportive of the decision by Dean Spanos to continue his efforts in San Diego and work
with local leaders to develop a permanent stadium solution," Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a
statement. "NFL ownership has committed $300 million to assist in the cost of building a new stadium in
San Diego. I have pledged the league's full support in helping Dean to fulfill his goal."
The next steps are uncertain. Faulconer has insisted a stadium measure be put on the ballot. Faulconer
and Roberts said earlier this month that a November ballot issue is more realistic than trying to rush one
onto the June ballot.
They have also held firm on their offers of public money: $200 million from the city and $150 million
from the county. Their proposal calls for the Chargers to contribute $353 million, which could be
defrayed by the additional $100 million from the NFL and a naming rights deal.
The sides held three brief negotiating sessions before the team walked away from the table in June. A
financing plan was never discussed. The Chargers then focused all their efforts on Carson.
"We appreciate Mr. Spanos' commitment to staying in San Diego for the 2016 season to work with the
region on a stadium solution," Faulconer and Roberts said in a joint statement. "We look forward to
discussing his vision for a new San Diego home for the Chargers, and will be working with him and our
negotiating team on a fair and viable plan to put before voters. We have agreed to meet again in the
near future."
Faulconer and Roberts contend that building a new stadium at the Qualcomm site in Mission Valley
would be quicker and cheaper than the Chargers' desire to build a stadium downtown as part of a
noncontiguous expansion of the convention center.
It's possible the Chargers could launch their own citizens' initiative.
The Chargers have been trying to replace Qualcomm since 2002, but numerous upheavals at City Hall
and the economic downturn in 2008 contributed to a lack of momentum. The long-running saga turned
nasty in the last year as Fabiani fiercely opposed Faulconer's proposals.
Spanos' scorched-earth tactics, orchestrated by Fabiani, angered many fans, who nonetheless turned
out for what many thought was a farewell game when the Chargers beat the Miami Dolphins at home
on Dec. 20.
Several thousand fans stayed after that game, and star players Philip Rivers, Malcom Floyd, Eric Weddle
and Antonio Gates, and even coach Mike McCoy, came back out to greet them and sign autographs.
Rivers took off his cleats, signed them and gave them away.
Broncos can already imagine Super Bowl tributes for
owner Pat Bowlen
By Lindsay Jones
USA Today
January 29, 2016
A Super Bowl championship is so close now, that inside the Denver Broncos training facility, the men
who run Pat Bowlen’s team are starting to allow themselves to imagine what the ceremony might be
like.
John Elway, the team’s Hall-of-Fame-quarterback-turned-general manager, would lift the Lombardi
Trophy over his head and shout four words into the microphone: “This one’s for Pat.”
It would be a perfect way for Elway to thank owner Pat Bowlen and a fitting tribute to Bowlen’s famous
“This one’s for John” speech after the Elway-led Broncos won their first Super Bowl 18 years ago.
“If the team is fortunate enough to win, someone will say, ‘This one's for Pat.’ But Pat wouldn't want it
that way,” Broncos chief executive officer Joe Ellis told USA TODAY Sports.
“He knows the NFL is all about team, and the best team ends up winning. He would never make it about
himself. He was too humble for that. And he would certainly impose on his players the understanding
that it's really all about them.”
Super Bowl 50 will be the Broncos' seventh appearance in the game since Bowlen bought the team in
1983, but the first he will be unable to attend. Deep in the throes of Alzheimer’s disease, he has been
unable to come to any of the Broncos’ games this year, even the Nov. 1 game against the Green Bay
Packers when he was inducted into the team’s ring of honor.
He placed his ownership into the Pat Bowlen Trust in July 2014, part of a decade-long plan to assure the
team will stay within his family. The goal is to eventually have one of Bowlen's seven children take over
as owner and CEO. Ellis, a longtime Broncos and NFL employee, currently represents the team at league
meetings.
“(Alzheimer’s) is a tough thing, and it's taken away from us and him the ability and this opportunity to
be with a great team. I know it's a team that he is and would be very, very proud of,” Ellis said. “It's a
shame that he can't be there like he was, because he would enjoy this. He would really appreciate how
this team has conducted itself this year, with all these gritty wins and with this relentless effort each
week.”
Ellis thinks Bowlen would be especially proud of coach Gary Kubiak, who was a rookie backup
quarterback for the Broncos in 1983 when Bowlen bought the team. During Kubiak’s playing days here,
and during his first stint as an assistant coach from 1995-2005, Bowlen was a fixture at the Paul D.
Bowlen Memorial Centre, the team training facility Bowlen named after his father.
Bowlen hasn’t been around the building since the 2013 season, and few of the current players know him
like those from 1980s, 1990s and 2000s did. But there is certainly a sense of appreciation for the
franchise that Bowlen built and what it would mean to win for him.
“I wish he was around here with us, but I know it means a lot to the family. I got a chance to visit with a
lot of them after the game the other day, so just very proud to be a part of it. But very proud of him, the
job he’s done here with this franchise. It’s been tremendous,” Kubiak said.
The rest of the family, including Bowlen's wife Annabel and his seven children along with spouses and
several grandchildren, will attend the Super Bowl. So too will more than 300 Broncos employees, whose
trip to California was paid for by the Bowlen Family Trust. Bowlen paid for all of his employees to attend
each of the team’s previous six Super Bowls.
“I know his family is excited. They're seeing a lot of him over there at the house. My guess is that he's
probably deep down pretty excited,” Ellis said.
“I know he'll be there in spirit for the team, and I look forward to — and I know the family looks forward
to — bringing the trophy back and putting it in the house and letting him have some fun with it.”
Broncos star Von Miller 'a big fan' of Cam Newton
By Lindsay Jones
USA Today
January 29, 2016
A few years ago, Von Miller might have said he had a rivalry with Cam Newton, because Newton was the
only player picked ahead of him in the 2011 draft.
Now, as Miller’s Denver Broncos prepare to face Newton’s Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50, its
nothing but respect.
"That’s one of my favorite quarterbacks. Peyton (Manning) obviously is my favorite quarterback, but
other than that, it's Cam," Miller said Friday. "I don't think there's another quarterback that's ever
played the game like he does, especially the way his personality is on the field, I'm just a big fan of
everything he's got going for him."
And yes, that includes Newton’s famous and sometimes controversial on-field celebrations.
"I mean what, dancing after he makes big plays? I mean, I do the same thing. If I was a quarterback, I'd
probably be doing the exact same thing," Miller said.
Newton received a five-year, $103.8 million contract from the Panthers last summer. But if he’s ever
looking to renegotiate — or consider a new position — he might want to get Miller to help out his
agents.
"If he played defense, he probably would have gotten $220 million, because he can probably rush the
passer and drop back and play safety and all that stuff too," Miller said.
But Newton wasn’t the only Panther that has drawn Miller’s attention. He said Friday that he has a
helmet autographed by Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly in his basement along with his other NFL
memorabilia, and he’s also a fan of linebacker Thomas Davis and defensive tackle Kawann Short.
"I'm a fan of football. I'm a fan of elite players, and Carolina, they have them," Miller said.
Now it’s up to Miller, his defensive teammates and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips to devise a plan
for stopping Newton, who is unlike any quarterback the Broncos have faced this season. The Broncos
last faced the Panthers in 2012, when both Newton and Miller were in their second season. The Broncos
sacked Newton seven times and won that game 36-14.
But all Phillips sees when he watches film of Newton now is a player who has developed into the likely
MVP of the league. Newton threw for 35 touchdowns and rushed for 10 more scores in the regular
season and has accounted for five touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) in two postseason games.
"There isn’t one like him," Phillips said Friday. "You go from Ben Roethlisberger to Tom Brady thinking it
won't get any tougher and then you're going against Cam Newton. He's so versatile that he gives you so
many problems that a regular drop-back quarterback doesn't. He is a top-notch drop-back quarterback,
but he can run with it better than the rest of them."
DeMarcus Ware provides emotional fuel to Broncos'
Super Bowl run
By Martin Rogers
USA Today
January 29, 2016
The night before the Denver Broncos booked their place in Super Bowl 50, coach Gary Kubiak had
finished addressing his team. Having dissected the minutiae of a game plan that ultimately would outwit
the New England Patriots, Kubiak, as he regularly does, called a player to the front of the meeting room
to offer a final thought before bed.
This time, he motioned for a hulking figure to step forward, a locker room beacon who knows how much
a Super Bowl means precisely because he has never won one or even played in one.
It was DeMarcus Ware, a likely future Hall of Famer who would trade all of his 134½ career regularseason sacks and nine Pro Bowl nods for one championship ring. If the Broncos can win one more game,
against the Carolina Panthers at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 7, he won’t have to.
Ware started to talk, and teammates’ eyes were fixed on him.
“It was very powerful,” Kubiak said.
Ware spoke with ferocity and passion, seizing the opportunity to lay bare the frustrations he has felt at
toiling in the league for more than a decade without any hardware to show for it.
He spoke about how the struggles of this season, with Denver’s training room resembling a conveyor
belt of banged-up players, matched what he hopes his career will resemble: a long, tortured battle that
comes together for ultimate success.
Ware pulled out Denver’s first Super Bowl trophy from the 1997 season, demanded that players gaze
upon it and insisted they vow to do whatever’s necessary to seize another.
“We have a motto on this team that iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another,” Ware says.
“We bought into that mentality when (players) got hurt. That was the grit of the whole season.
“I sat (the trophy) on the table, and it just got really quiet. I saw in all the guys’ eyes how they felt, what
they felt, because I felt the same way. It was a big, emotional night, and the guys carried it over into the
game.”
Denver is heading to the Bay Area just 60 minutes away from the sport’s grandest prize for many
reasons, but few are more significant than the way Ware, Von Miller and the defensive line stepped up
to quell Tom Brady and the Patriots’ hopes for a late revival in the AFC Championship Game.
While Miller had the fancy stats, recording 2½ sacks, Ware was no less significant. He hit Brady no fewer
than seven times, inflicting bruises and a generally miserable afternoon upon the Patriots quarterback.
Yet he is perhaps even more of a force away from the field of play, inspiring his younger teammates with
a mixture of verbal encouragement and leading by example.
“He is a natural leader,” Miller said of Ware. “When you hear DeMarcus Ware, you automatically think
‘great guy.’ You see him on all of the commercials, he’s great. The only thing he needs is a Super Bowl.
I’m going to lay my heart on the line for him.
“He has done everything the right way, a true leader. He’s my idol. I’ve been looking up to him for a long
time.”
Moving to Denver after spending the first nine seasons in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys has finally
given Ware the possibility of shooting for the stars. Yet talk to his colleagues, on both sides of the ball,
and there is a unanimous feeling that while Denver has been good to Ware, the team might not be in its
current position without him.
Ware, 33, and Peyton Manning, 39, are the Broncos’ senior statesmen. What a Super Bowl win would
do for their legacies has not been lost on the locker room.
“I think it’s win one for Peyton, win one for D-Ware,” wide receiver Demaryius Thomas said. “It would
be nice to get one for everybody else, too.”
Denver’s defense carried the team all season and finished first in the regular season in total defense and
pass defense. Yet it was doubted persistently leading up to the clash with the defending Super Bowl
champion Patriots. It could find itself in a similar position before it faces the all-conquering Panthers
and quarterback Cam Newton.
While it would be tempting for Ware to focus his thoughts on producing one more dynamic
performance, his mind instead is intent on simply duplicating the levels that have served him through
his career.
“It has been 11 years of consistent time,” Ware said. “Now, just as one time you push through that
threshold and are able to make it to the Super Bowl, you can’t be happy with that.
“You can see that the guys aren’t happy with that. I’m not happy with that. We will be ready. I’ve waited
too long not to be.”
Silicon Valley rolls out red carpet for Super Bowl
By Jon Swartz
USA Today
January 29, 2016
Silicon Valley is welcoming Super Bowl 50 with open arms, extra Wi-Fi, some serious hospitality and
plenty of gadgetry.
Expect eyefuls of virtual reality, branding, ride-hailing and familiar tech personalities in the ramp-up to
the Feb. 7 title game.
"This will be the most technologically advanced Super Bowl ever," says Keith Bruce, CEO of the Super
Bowl Host Committee, the liaison between the NFL and the local community. "It will usher in a new era
for Super Bowls in how technology is used to enhance the fans' experience."
Nearly half of the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee's 18 primary sponsors — Google, Hewlett Packard
Enterprise, Intel, Intuit, SAP, Seagate, Yahoo and Verizon — are tech companies. Its advisory group
includes Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, SAP Chief Technology Officer Quentin
Clark, Alphabet Senior Vice President David Drummond, Seagate CEO Stephen Luczo and Bruce Sewell,
Apple's general counsel.
From Super Bowl City, a free fan village near San Francisco's downtown waterfront, to NFL Experience,
an interactive theme park at Moscone Center, fans, the NFL and — possibly — future Olympics
organizers will see how a sports championship can use technology to boost the 'wow' experience for
these big ticket events.
The game's venue, Levi's Stadium, home of the tech-influenced San Francisco 49ers, is the league's
most technically-advanced, according to NFL spokesman Alex Riethmiller.
There, an app designed for the stadium by start-up VenueNext, which leverages Oracle's point-of-sales
technology for mobile ordering, will let fans order food, drink and merchandise from their seats.
VenueNext's smartphone app handles everything from parking to in-seat food delivery and instant
replays at Levi's. For the Super Bowl, it has added a celebrity cam, Super Bowl commercials and express
pickup of merchandise.
"Never before has tech had such an impact on a Super Bowl," says John Paul, CEO of VenueNext, whose
board members include 49ers CEO and co-owner Jed York and Brano Perkovich, executive vice president
of the 49ers.
Virtual reality will be on dizzying display at Super Bowl City and the NFL Experience, beginning Jan. 30 at
11 a.m. Among the highlights: SAP's Quarterback Challenge, which puts participants in the cleats of a QB
facing a fierce pass rush.
Mini-drones will occupy air space at Intel's Drone Zone at Super Bowl City within an enclosed area with
netting. Fans can learn to fly five-inch drones around and about field goal posts, says Laurie Koehler,
Intel's experience brand manager.
Autodesk is 3-D printing Super Bowl rings for the bling crowd.
Transportation, always a Herculean task at major sporting events, will get a new wrinkle. The Host
Committee's Bruce — a veteran organizer and planner at 14 Super Bowls, six of the last seven Olympics
and four World Cups — is taking a "multi-mode" approach to getting people into and out of Levi's.
Some 5,000 people throughout the Bay Area will be transported to the game via the same fleet of buses
that take Google-parent Alphabet employees from San Francisco to corporate headquarters in Mountain
View, Calif.
The plan isn't just a logistical fit, but an attempted goodwill gesture to local residents facing commute
bottlenecks. This follows protests in late 2013 that shuttle buses from Google and Facebook symbolize
income inequality and gentrification. "The (Fan Express to the game) has never been done at a Super
Bowl before," Bruce says.
For all the host committee's expert orchestration, disruption — a favored buzzword in tech circles —
could get as much attention as the event's high-tech glitz. Groups advocating over a range of social
issues are expected to stage protests or attempt shutdowns, encouraged in part by an African-American
rights group's protest on the Bay Bridge, which drew national media attention.
Uber, no stranger to tensions with locals officials, has teamed with the host committee to deliver riders
to a priority parking zone that is a 12-minute walk from the 70,000-seat stadium. If the arrangement
works, it could be a future model for mass transit at Summer and Winter Olympics, as well as World
Cups, Bruce says.
And, yes, no one will be stranded with an empty tank, granted they navigate street closures in
downtown San Francisco. Start-up Filld, which delivers gas via a smartphone app, is the official gas-filler
of Super Bowl-affiliated vehicles and vendors.
The 40-person committee, in every sense, is a tech start-up, stitched together from a broad quilt of
hardware, software and app companies.
The committee, which finances the game, raised $50 million through its tech and non-tech sponsors.
It is using Apple-supplied smartphones and laptops, though Apple declined to have its name or logo
included in the event's marketing material. And a special app was created by SAP to connect the
committee's more than 5,000 volunteers.
Beyond the committee, Intuit has constructed the Business Connect platform to link small businesses
such as caterers and florists serving the Super Bowl.
Chargers to stay in San Diego for now, but have deal
with Los Angeles Rams
By Brent Schrotenboer
USA Today
January 29, 2016
The San Diego Chargers have made a decision about their future in Southern California — sort of.
The team has decided to stay in San Diego for at least one more season but also has agreed on a deal to
share a new stadium in Los Angeles with the Los Angeles Rams.
Plan A right now is San Diego. Plan B is Los Angeles.
"Today I decided our team will stay in San Diego for the 2016 season, and I hope for the long term in a
new stadium," Chargers chairman Dean Spanos said in a statement to fans Friday. "I have met with (San
Diego) Mayor (Kevin) Faulconer and Supervisor (Ron) Roberts and I look forward to working closely with
them and the business community to resolve our stadium dilemma. We have an option and an
agreement with the Los Angeles Rams to go to Inglewood in the next year, but my focus is on San
Diego.This has been our home for 55 years, and I want to keep the team here and provide the worldclass stadium experience you deserve."
The Chargers have until Jan. 15, 2017 to make a decision about joining the Rams in L.A. — an option that
extends to Jan. 15, 2018 if a referendum to approve funding for a new stadium in San Diego is approved
prior to this Nov. 15.
In effect, the deal with the Rams gives the Chargers a safety net in case they fail to lock down a new
stadium plan in San Diego, the team’s home since 1961.
But it also comes with risk. By not moving to Los Angeles right away, the Chargers are letting the Rams
get an even bigger jump on the market with ticket sales and marketing. The Chargers also are looking
down the barrel of a possible losing ballot measure in San Diego, where public financing for an NFL
stadium is not popular and where residents have grown fatigued of the team’s ongoing threat to ditch
town for L.A., 120 miles up the road.
"We are very supportive of the decision by Dean Spanos to continue his efforts in San Diego and work
with local leaders to develop a permanent stadium solution," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a
statement Friday. "NFL ownership has committed $300 million to assist in the cost of building a new
stadium in San Diego. I have pledged the league’s full support in helping Dean to fulfill his goal."
The deal with the Rams comes 17 days after a climactic NFL owners meeting in Houston in which NFL
owners overwhelmingly approved the relocation of the Rams to Los Angeles after 21 seasons in St.
Louis. The relocation resolution included giving the Chargers the first option to join the Rams in their
new $2 billion stadium planned for Inglewood, near the L.A. airport.
“The Los Angeles Rams have reached an agreement with the San Diego Chargers to join us in the new
Inglewood Stadium, if they choose to exercise their option to relocate within the next year," Rams
owner Stan Kroenke said in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with the Chargers in
Inglewood, but the decision of course is Dean’s to make.”
If the Chargers reach a new stadium deal in San Diego, the league said it would provide an extra $100
million in support, in addition to a $200 million loan from the league. A new stadium in San Diego likely
would cost at least $1.1 billion, including $350 million or more in public funding that could be rejected
or approved in a public vote this year. The team presented polling data to the NFL last August that
showed a 65-percent disapproval rate for such a proposal.
“We appreciate Mr. Spanos' commitment to staying in San Diego for the 2016 season to work with the
region on a stadium solution," said a joint statement from San Diego Mayor Faulconer and San Diego
County Supervisor Roberts. "We look forward to discussing his vision for a new San Diego home for the
Chargers, and will be working with him and our negotiating team on a fair and viable plan to put before
voters. We have agreed to meet again in the near future."
In Inglewood, the Chargers might be seen as a second-fiddle to the Rams, who played in the Los Angeles
market for nearly 50 years before moving to St. Louis in 1995. The Chargers also would be playing in a
stadium development project owned by Rams owner Stan Kroenke. But to win approval for his project
from NFL owners, Kroenke was required to make his new stadium appealing to a second team.
He did that for the Chargers, setting up a stadium deal in which each team can boost their fortunes
depending on their own sales and performance.
Even if they’re a tenant of the Rams, the Chargers still could see huge revenue boosts in L.A., compared
to San Diego, where they play in a stadium built in 1967. The Chargers have been trying to get a new
stadium in San Diego for more than a decade but have lacked an acceptable or actionable plan to get
one, leading them to explore their options in L.A.
The deal with the Rams gives them additional stadium leverage in San Diego, as well as the security of
knowing they have a home in L.A. if it doesn’t work out.
"Everyone on both sides of the table in San Diego must now determine the best next steps and how to
deploy the additional resources provided by the NFL," Spanos said in his statement. "I am committed to
looking at this with a fresh perspective and new sense of possibility."
If voters reject a new stadium for the Chargers in San Diego, the Chargers also will have a more publicly
acceptable reason for leaving their longtime fan base.
On the other hand, if voters do approve a new stadium for the Chargers in San Diego, the Chargers still
will have changing market factors to consider: The Oakland Raiders have the right to move to L.A. to join
the Rams if the Chargers turn L.A down to stay in San Diego.
That could mean three NFL teams within 125 miles of each other in Southern California after going 21
years with only one team in Southern California. That lone team was the Chargers, who say that 25
percent of their current local revenues come from neighboring Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles
counties.
Such a sudden crowd in Southern California presents another business complication for the team.
Spanos previously said those revenues would be threatened if other teams invaded the region. If a new
San Diego stadium is approved, would that be better for business than sharing a stadium in the nation’s
second-biggest media market?
It’s his call. And now the drama promises to roll on through the end of the year.
The Rams are expected to play the next three seasons in the L.A. Coliseum while their new stadium in
Inglewood is built for a projected opening in 2019. If the Chargers move to L.A, they also might be able
to share the Coliseum temporarily, pending official approval.
The Chargers announced Thursday they are developing a five-acre parcel in Santa Ana, in Orange
County, to be used as a possible interim headquarters and training facilities for the team if they decide
to relocate to L.A.
This year will be the first time that Los Angeles has had an NFL team since the Raiders and Rams left the
market in 1995.
Report: Raiders owner Mark Davis exploring move to
Las Vegas
By A.J. Perez
USA Today
January 29, 2016
Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis is slated to meet with casino mogul Sheldon Adelson to discuss the
potential relocation of the franchise to Las Vegas, according to published reports.
Weeks after the Raiders lost their bid to move back to Los Angeles, Davis was invited to meet with
Adelson, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Friday. Adelson, the chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas
Sands Corporation, and Davis are expected to discuss a proposed $1 billon-plus domed stadium just off
the Las Vegas Strip.
"The whole concept of the stadium, everything we have looked at, is under the assumption that there is
no NFL team," Andy Abboud, senior vice president of government relations and community
development for Las Vegas Sands, told The Review-Journal. "We feel this project will go forward without
an NFL team, because there isn't one right now. But we are talking to NFL teams to see if they would be
interested. This is first and foremost about the community and UNLV and about enhancing visitation.”
Major sports leagues, especially the NFL, have been hesitant about placing teams n Las Vegas, the only
state where it’s legal to wager on sports. Bill Foley, another billionaire businessman, has filed an
application with the NHL for an expansion franchise.
"When it comes to sports in Las Vegas, the elephant in the room is gambling," Carl Braunlich, a faculty
member of UNLV's College of Hotel Administration and a consultant to the Las Vegas gambling industry,
told USA TODAY Sports in 2014. "That will probably always be a potential killer for a sports franchise
here. People are afraid of the taint of an accusation of corruption.
"The NFL, for instance, is just horrified at the thought of anything that would make it look less 'family' or
less 'quality' than it is now, even though bookmakers around the world thrive on the NFL and the games
that are being played.”
The Raiders are currently negotiating a short-term lease to continue playing in Oakland's O.co Coliseum,
CSN Bay Area reported on Thursday.
The Raiders might still have the opportunity to go to L.A. if the San Diego Chargers opt not to partner
with the Los Angeles Rams.
Broncos fans warned of Super Bowl ticket scams
By Kaitlin Durbin
Colorado Springs Gazette
January 29, 2016
Denver Broncos fans went wild when a failed two-point conversion in the final seconds of the AFC title
game advanced the team to the Super Bowl. So did scammers, Colorado Attorney General Cynthia H.
Coffman warns.
Capitalizing on fandom and the excitement to watch quarterback Peyton Manning vie for his second
Super Bowl ring, scammers are cranking out "discounted" tickets - still several thousand dollars per seat
- and often, buyers don't know their tickets are frauds until they're turned away at the gate, Coffman
said in a news release.
"Scammers understand the excitement surrounding Super Bowl 50 and will prey on unsuspecting
football fans hoping to watch the big game in person," she said.
Ticket prices for the Feb. 7 contest at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., are hovering around $6,000
apiece, but some resale hub websites have them "on sale" for upward of $10,000. Know your seller,
Coffman said.
The office is recommending buyers use a credit card and know the seller's refund policy. Fans could also
purchase tickets through a National Association of Ticket Brokers seller, which offers a 200 percent
guarantee on tickets purchased through one of its members.
Additional tips to help buyers avoid becoming the next victim to ticket fraud can be found on the
attorney general's website.
According to TiqIQ.com, a resale hub, the minimum ticket price Friday morning for the Feb. 7 game was
$3,412, and that would only earn you a seat up top, in Section 400. A spot front and center in Section
115 was selling for $17,664 on the website.
Any Colorado resident who thinks they've been a victim of ticket fraud or encounters suspicious activity
can file a report with the state attorney general's office online or by calling 800-222-4444.
Super Bowl 2016: Von Miller says Cam Newton is his
favorite QB after Peyton
By Sean Wagner-McGough
CBSSports.com
January 29, 2016
A week ago, the Broncos' defense couldn't stop ripping Tom Brady, using unflattering words before the
game to describe the Patriots' quarterback and even less polite descriptions after the game. Von Miller
got in on the action, making a Deflategate joke as he held the football of a Brady pass he intercepted.
So far this week, Miller is playing nice. With a matchup against Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in
Super Bowl 50 looming, the Broncos' star pass rusher had nothing but complimentary things to say
about a player who has been the target of too much unwarranted criticism.
Newton is actually Miller's favorite quarterback (other than Peyton Manning, of course).
@ESPNMichele
Respect from Von Miller to Cam Newton -- After Peyton Manning, says that Newton is his favorite
quarterback.
2:46 PM - 29 Jan 2016
Maybe it's due to their love of dancing
Maybe they can join Coldplay on stage next Sunday.
But Newton shouldn't expect Miller to play nice next weekend. After all, just last Sunday, Miller and the
Broncos' pass rush obliterated Brady, and they'll be looking to do the same to Newton in Super Bowl 50.
Believe it or not, Panthers WRs will give Broncos
defense a hard time
By Matt Chatham
FOXSports.com
January 29, 2016
All season, Matt Chatham has been breaking down tape for FOXSports.com's NFL Game of the Week
column. Now, as we shift our focus to Super Bowl 50, he will break down four key aspects that could
decide if the Panthers or Broncos emerge victorious. The first in our four-part series looked at how the
Panthers' pass rush will rattle Peyton Manning. The second examined how the Broncos defense can
corral and contain Cam Newton. Today, we look at how the Panthers wideouts might give the Broncos
secondary some issues.
I'm sure the Carolina Panthers wide receivers have heard it a number of ways and a countless number of
times. The Panthers receivers are nothing more than supporting actors in the Cam Newton Show or
something. The story is well-worn.
Rising-star WR Kelvin Benjamin tore his ACL in training camp, leaving Carolina without any hope through
the air. The Panthers run the ball really well. Newton loves to throw to his stud tight end, Greg Olsen.
Occasionally veteran fast guy Ted Ginn Jr. catches a go route. And that's about it.
Or is it?
Yes, the offense is highly dependent on Newton and the run game, and a tight end is actually the
Panthers' top wide receiving threat. But that doesn't mean the rest of the receivers aren't just the right
complementary pieces for the particular offense they're in.
The Broncos have plenty of all-stars on their back end, including cornerbacks Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr.
and Bradley Roby, as well as big hitter T.J. Ward at strong safety. As far as overall secondary talent, this
is one of the better collections in the NFL. But in facing another one of those top-talent secondaries a
week ago in the Arizona Cardinals, who featured Patrick Peterson, the Panthers went for over 300 yards
and two touchdowns through the air on the way to a 49-15 victory.
If that doesn't make football sense, it's OK. It shouldn't.
No, this group of Panthers receivers wouldn't likely have the success it has had this season in a more
traditional NFL offense. But as their run game pounds away, this group provides just the right dose of
big-play ability to take advantage of all the concern given to Newton and the run game.
Olsen is the master of the seam area on the football field. He'll line up all over the formation and is a
willing blocker in the run game, but his biggest impact comes when he stretches the middle lanes. The
example below is a classic Olsen route, a wide release from the line of scrimmage to toy with the
leverage of the safety covering him, only to return back down the hashes for a big play.
Olsen is a serious concern all over the field, but the times where he'll warrant the most coverage
attention by Denver is when he's working the intermediate-to-deep middle parts of the field. Fall asleep
on him there and you're virtually guaranteed Newton will be working the ball his way for a big try.
In the true receiver group, Ginn's 10 touchdowns this season are about the same as the number he'd
accumulated over the previous eight years in the league. Ginn was always considered an excellent
returner, but his receiving history was a mixed bag. He was a speed and run-after-the-catch guy, but
never a catch gobbler.
But that's why he's such a perfect fit for in Carolina. A typical day for him amounts to a few catches, one
of which is usually a big, game-changing play. On Sunday, Ginn ran a reverse for a touchdown, which
was emblematic of his elite return skills, the kind of play that keeps a defense honest and not just
lagging off him to prevent shot plays.
The following example shows how the Panthers are able to take advantage of the grace given Ginn, this
time by way of a deep comeback completion against one of the best cornerbacks in football. The
cornerback stays on top of the route throughout, guarding first for the deep route that dominates Ginn's
reputation.
Corey "Philly" Brown had a monster 86-yard touchdown in that NFC Championship Game in typical
Panthers fashion, making one guy miss in the extreme open space and then running the rest of the
length of the field. Jericho Cotchery, the savvy veteran, is always good for a handful of important sticks
conversions throughout the game, and talented rookie project Devin Funchess will also show up from
time to time.
Sorry Beast Mode, looks like Skittles has moved on
By James Parziale
FOXSports.com
January 29, 2016
Marshawn Lynch is famous for a great many things. Running over defenders. Not talking to the media.
Not getting the ball at the 1-yard line in the Super Bowl.
But his infatuation with Skittles has taken it to the next level.
Of course, it also helped the rainbow-colored candy get some national spotlight when Lynch and the
Seahawks played in the last two Super Bowls.
Though now that the Seahawks are out, Skittles has recruited Broncos LB and Super Bowl 50 player
DeMarcus Ware to be their pitch guy. Here he is, taking a crack doing the forecast for a local TV station
in Denver:
Not a terrible performance, but Ware shouldn't quit his day job.
Ohio State's Braxton Miller is in group of six Senior
Bowlers who shined
By Charles Robinson
YahooSports.com
January 29, 2016
If you had to start somewhere with wideout Braxton Miller's Senior Bowl, let it be from Thursday, in the
one-on-one red zone drills where he was changing directions like a hummingbird and laying waste to
defenders.
Perhaps the Ohio State star's top highlight here was a contentious matchup with Minnesota cornerback
Eric Murray. For days, Miller and Murray barked at each other on the field, with the handsy defender
banking on a lifetime of coaching that taught him to be physical with speed-and-finesse wideouts. At
one point in the midst of trash talking, Miller asked Murray how many times he was flagged this past
season.
Then came the final hour of practice, and the two were head-to-head again. Miller's goal? Get Murray
off him in time to catch a touchdown on an inside slant.
When the ball was snapped, Miller stepped to his right and got a chest full of Murray's forearm and
hands as the defender was jamming and trying to control the receiver's break. Miller responded by
quickly moving back to his left and then planting hard on his outside foot. Murray was still reaching and
changed direction to try and cut off Miller's path again. But it was already over. By the time he realized it
was a setup move, Miller was already moving back to his right – his third change of direction in about
one second – leaving Murray to fly by helplessly. Miller cut inside and across the goal line and caught the
slant for the touchdown. All Murray could do in that moment was go over Miller's back and hope the
ball was dropped.
As the two went to the ground, Murray stripped off Miller's helmet as hoots and "oooohs" cascaded in
the stands nearby. Miller responded by standing up and barking at Murray again in satisfaction.
It was one play, but it was fairly representative of how Miller was opening eyes at the Senior Bowl. And
his next repetition through that same drill, he embarrassed Northern Iowa cornerback Deiondre' Hall,
too. Hall chose not to jam Miller at the line and might have actually gotten it worse, getting completely
turned in a circle on the play, like a highlight of a defender trying to stop Hall of Famer Barry Sanders.
Miller's footwork looked legit. While he's far from a finished project in his transition from college
quarterback to wideout to NFL multi-use weapon, he's further along than some personnel men thought
he would be at this stage.
"It's not Denard Robinson," one NFC North scout said, noting the last supremely talented Big 10
quarterback who was forced to transition to running back at the NFL level. "He's somewhat advanced in
[the discipline] of wide receiver. But he's still raw there, too."
In fairness, Miller should be more advanced than Robinson. The onetime star Ohio State quarterback
spent his senior as a hybrid offensive weapon for the Buckeyes, playing wideout, running back and some
quarterback. There could be some argument that after the departure of offensive coordinator Tom
Herman, Miller wasn't utilized to the maximum level of his talent. That's irrelevant at this stage. The NFL
doesn't care. Miller will be selected on the basis of his ability to grow. And not just physically, although
he is already fitting the mold at an eyelash over 6-foot-1 and 204 pounds. It's more about the growth in
his skills. And he showed that seemingly every day at the Senior Bowl by getting better each practice.
"The transition from quarterback to receiver, he clearly is a great athlete," Dallas Cowboys coach Jason
Garrett said. "He has to learn a lot of the skills that the receiver position requires. But if you watch his
arc from Tuesday morning to [Thursday], he's made great strides in three practices. It's a real tribute to
his ability, but maybe more than that, just the approach he takes."
That kind of assessment made Miller one of the big winners of the Senior Bowl. He still has some
monumental workouts ahead, as teams determine where he can make the quickest impact. That will
most likely be the slot and out of the backfield, and possibly returning punts. Teams will also do
additional diligence on Miller's medical history; he missed significant time at Ohio State with injury. The
NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis will go a long way to answering those concerns, as well as a
curiosity about Miller's speed. He expects to answer that question in the low 4.3-second range in the 40yard dash.
"It's going to be a low 4.3, but I want to run 4.28 seconds," Miller said. "I feel like I'm capable because I
ran 4.36 when I was 215 pounds and I had bad eating habits, too. Now I'm on a strict diet, working out
and training hard."
NFL evaluators would agree. The progress is showing.
Here are a few of the other players who helped or hurt themselves in practice this week …
HELPED THEMSELVES
QB Carson Wentz, North Dakota State: He had a solid first practice on Tuesday and Dallas Cowboys
coaches said he got better every single day. Evaluators said he showcased nice athleticism and threw
with NFL-level zip. His ball placement also improved as he became comfortable with his receivers. He
highlighted his last practice with a nice back-shoulder touchdown to Michigan State wideout Aaron
Burbridge in red-zone work. Then he went and met with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. None of this week
will damper Senior Bowl director Phil Savage's assessment that Wentz could land in the draft's top 10
picks.
DE Noah Spence, Eastern Kentucky: South Team offensive tackles (especially Georgia's John Theus) will
be happy to be done dealing with Spence, who seemed to have his moments dominating everyone who
faced him. An AFC personnel man called Spence "nasty" and said he "beats the hell" out of his 1-on-1
matchups inside their shoulder pads. He added that Spence might be the highest drafted defender from
the Senior Bowl by the time all of the evaluations finish in April. His off-field concerns cost him his
standing at Ohio State, but it's evident that he's an edge rusher oozing with talent and a willingness to
mix it up. Because of his aggression, some teams might envision him playing slightly bigger (he came in
at 254 pounds) if he can add weight that doesn't sacrifice speed. He had a ton of room to raise his
standing in Mobile, and it looks like he did it.
DT Sheldon Rankins, Louisville: He beat up the South's offensive line all week. Michigan center Graham
Glasgow, who had a solid showing in his own right, will certainly be happy to be done dealing with
Rankins. Scouts were thrilled to see Rankins showcase an array of technique this week, including some
new wrinkles since his season ended. He pulled out of the Senior Bowl game with a tweaked knee, but it
shouldn't impact his scouting combine attendance in a month. One evaluator said that if Rankins puts up
a good combine, he could join defensive end Noah Spence as a first-round Senior Bowl defender.
LB Reggie Ragland, Alabama: His weight coming in (259 pounds) irked some evaluators, including an NFC
North personnel man who said Ragland's physique looked "puffy." Folks want to see him trim down to
the low 250s before the combine in Indianapolis. Regardless, Ragland is a compact, thumper of a middle
linebacker and that's where several personnel men said he belongs. He'll still try to showcase some
pass-rushing skills, but if NFL teams are looking for an instant starter inside, Ragland might be the best
option (depending on how evaluators feel about injured Notre Dame star Jaylon Smith).
CB Harlan Miller, SE Louisiana: Asked to tab a small-school guy who popped out during the week, two
personnel men picked Miller. One said Miller was "consistently physical," while another called him
"aggressive and competitive." Miller came in at 6-foot even and 182 pounds, and both said he's got the
build and skills capable of maturing into a No. 1 cornerback. Both also noted Miller's adept ability to
handle route shifts without losing speed. Basically, he can turn and run with guys when necessary.
LEAVING WITH MIXED REVIEWS
QB Connor Cook, Michigan State: It's hard for a guy to lose during Senior Bowl week when he wasn't
actually part of the event. But Cook was a topic of conversation amongst several personnel men who
were asking questions about him to both MSU players and media members. One made a fairly
interesting point: Outside of Carson Wentz, the quarterbacks at the event weren't particularly special, so
if Cook attended, he might have raised his profile by rivaling Wentz in the throwing department. It's
hard to say what Cook might have lost, but if he looked good head-to-head with Wentz in live action,
that might have given quarterback-needy teams in the first round something to think about. Instead
they were wondering why Cook wasn't in Mobile.
DE Shawn Oakman, Baylor: Despite coming in shorter than expected (6-foot-7½ versus 6-9), the 260pound Oakman looked every bit like a big-time defensive end. He flashed at times but never dominated
in any of the practices, and that's the word on his college, tape, too. He's powerful and could add
another 20 pounds and still look lean and long and ideal at defensive end. But two assessments stood
out from a pair of personnel evaluators. One said he had basketball legs and a lower base that was
concerning when it comes to the rigors of being an every-down defensive end in the NFL. The other was
that Oakman doesn't have a large repertoire of moves once the guy in front of him has shown he can
match his power. Basically, he is being described as a top-end physical player with project qualities.
QB Jake Coker, Alabama: He cuts the figure of a prototype NFL quarterback but can't consistently make
NFL throws. He was erratic at times during the week. The story didn't change on Coker being a
substandard passer on the NFL level. Maybe he can pull a rabbit out of a hat on game day.
WR Leonte Carroo, Rutgers: He was a slight disappointment in the measurements department, coming
in a shade under 6-foot after being listed as 6-1 at Rutgers. But he was a compact 217 pounds and
thrilling in practices. One NFL evaluator who watched him said his brand of physical play and speed
reminded him of Steve Smith. It wasn't all good: he suffered an ankle injury and will miss the Senior
Bowl, which will lead to questions about his durability. He also had some off-field concerns as well
before arriving to Mobile. Guys like that, who tend to play as hard as Carroo, can be bang or bust.
RB Kenyan Drake, Alabama: On the first day of practice, a college source familiar with the Alabama
program and who has seen Drake extensively said there was a chance Drake could be as good an NFL
player (or better) than Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry. No doubt, Drake had a big opportunity.
His speed, athleticism and size were evident early. But he also had issues pass blocking, looking either
unwilling or confused at times, and that's going to raise questions about his ability to be an every-down
running back. Rotoworld's Josh Norris, who previously spent some time in the Los Angeles Rams'
personnel department, actually said Drake "might be the worst pass protector I've seen at this event in
some time." An NFC evaluator backed that up, saying Drake looked like he had "limited snap potential
on passing downs." That's a nice way of saying he won't get on the field on passing downs until he can
block. The physical tools are there. But there's work to do.
Broncos TE Vernon Davis: Return to Levi’s Stadium is
‘surreal’
By SI Wire
SI.com
January 29, 2016
Current Denver Broncos and former San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis told reporters that
returning to Levi’s Stadium for Super Bowl 50 feels “surreal.”
“I was like, ‘Wow, we’re actually going back to Levi’s Stadium,’” Davis said Thursday. “It couldn’t get any
better that. It couldn’t get any better than this. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m very pleased,
thankful and excited all at the same time for an opportunity to go in and experience this year’s Super
Bowl in Levi’s Stadium.”
Davis, who was acquired by the Broncos from the 49ers in November, has had a down season in 2015–
16. During the regular season, the 31-year-old had just 38 catches for 395 yards and no touchdowns. He
is just two seasons removed from recording 52 receptions for 850 yards and 13 touchdowns, which
earned him second team All-Pro honors with the 49ers.
A 2006 first round selection by San Francisco out of Maryland, Davis has 461 career receptions for 5,841
yards and 55 touchdowns in his 10-year NFL career.
Broncos Super Bowl history; deep roots but lots of
losses
By Rick Bonnell
The Charlotte Observer
January 29, 2016
Les Shapiro’s wife isn’t a sports fan, but she’s sure a fan of Denver Broncos home games.
“She loves Broncos home Sundays because the mall is always empty and she likes to go shopping,” said
Shapiro, a longtime Denver sports-talk radio host.
Mrs. Shapiro’s impression isn’t unique. The Broncos are such a longtime obsession in Denver that there
are few signs of life outside Mile High Stadium on game days.
“You drive around when it’s a big home game. Now it’s New England. It used to be the Raiders. We’re
talking late ’80s and early ’90s. If you weren’t at the game, it was an empty town,” said Dimitrios
Seitanis, who moved to Denver in the 1980s.
“If you were driving around, and had a question, there was no one to ask, even in the little stores.”
Seitanis and his brother immigrated to the United States from their native Greece after first coming to
Denver as high school exchange students. To them, football was the round kind played in gigantic soccer
stadiums throughout Europe.
But in assimilating their new culture, the brothers caught the Broncos bug. Walk into their restaurant,
“Greek to Me” a few miles from the Broncos’ training facility and you’ll quickly be swept into a
conversation about how many sacks linebacker Von Miller will have on Carolina Panthers quarterback
Cam Newton.
When they discovered they were chatting with a sportswriter from Charlotte, the questions cascaded
from their mouths: Is Newton really that big? Is Luke Kuechly as good as Miller or DeMarcus Ware? And
most importantly…
“You give us a chance, don’t you?”
“Us” is of course Bronco Nation. If the charm in the Panthers’ second Super Bowl appearance is the
freshness and relative newness of the experience, then Denver is a distinct contrast: Families
everywhere full of multi-generational fan bases. The Broncos have qualified for their eighth Super Bowl
appearance, which creates a different set of expectations.
“The whole town is down” after a Super Bowl loss, Seitanis said. “The second time they had riots
downtown. When they won it was amazing. But when they lose, like two years ago against the
Seahawks, it’s like a funeral. The feeling was like you run 100 miles, you’re so tired, and then you lose
the race.
“You try to erase it from your mind, to think of something else. There is no way to describe the sense of
emptiness. You feel so bitter; like you’ve been beaten up by 100 guys.”
A forgiving town
Shapiro, who hosts the afternoon show on Mile High Sports Radio, AM1340, says that while Super Bowl
losses are depressing, they never break up Denver’s love affair with its favorite team.
“The region is very forgiving. It’s not like the East Coast – it’s not Philadelphia,” Shapiro said. “People
care here greatly, but if they have a bad season or even two – which is infrequent – the fans are very
forgiving because they know as long as this ownership stays consistent, and someone like John Elway is
running the show, they will always bounce back.”
By Shapiro’s count, the Broncos have had only five losing seasons in the 31 since the Bowlen family
bought the team. The Bowlens reinvest lavishly in the product, as in when they renovated the training
facility adding 17,000 square feet to the complex in 2014.
Those facilities have helped the Broncos add and retain talent to win sustainably in the NFL’s parityproducing free-agent era.
“It’s incredible in this day-and-age,” Shapiro said. “With free-agency – the way players, coaches and
even owners move around in a mercenary way – there’s still been a consistency in this organization and
it’s a consistency the community really appreciates.”
A Charlottean sizes it up
Jeff Golden moved to Charlotte as a third-grader, just before the Panthers’ inaugural season, playing
home games at Clemson in 1995. His family went to a game against the San Francisco 49ers. The
Panthers lost 31-10, but the Golden family was still smitten, holding season tickets as Jeff grew on to
attend North Mecklenburg High and UNC Wilmington.
Golden stayed a Panthers fan but his career took him west, first to New Mexico and 5 1/2 years ago to
Denver, where he does public relations and marketing for the Colorado Mountain Club.
He sees both parallels and contrasts in how Charlotte and Denver love their NFL teams.
“There’s definitely a more established tradition here. Most families have generations of life-long fans.
This is a place with a lot of Super Bowl appearances and a lot of retired jerseys,” Golden said.
“But still it’s the same kind of excitement I remember from the Panthers’ first Super Bowl. You’ll see at
least one out of every four people wearing orange.”
Golden attended a Super Bowl party two years ago, watching the Seahawks drill the Broncos 43-8 in
2014. The only trouble with reaching seven Super Bowls is they can result in five losses.
“I was with a lot of friends who are Broncos fans. By halftime they were pretty resolved to the idea they
were going to lose,” Golden recalled. “That was hard on them because the Broncos seemed like the
better team, but through a series of errors they were going to lose.”
Golden will fly to the Bay Area next weekend to take in the Super Bowl atmosphere. He won’t have a
ticket to the game, but he has arranged to be with his people.
Not the people he lives with in Denver. Golden will deck out in black-and-blue and head to a Roaring
Riot viewing party in San Francisco.
Broncos Wade Phillips on Panthers Cam Newton: ‘There
isn’t one like him’
By Rick Bonnell
The Charlotte Observer
January 29, 2016
Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips didn’t wait for a question from the media Friday.
He knew what the center of attention would be.
"They asked me if I had seen a quarterback like (the Carolina Panthers’) Cam Newton. There isn’t one
like him," Phillips volunteered.
"I haven’t seen one like him. None of us have. He’s a tremendous talent. He’s put it all together. I’m sure
he’s going to be MVP of the league this year. It’s another big challenge for us.
"You go from (Pittsburgh quarterback Ben) Roethlisberger to (New England quarterback) Tom Brady,
think it won’t get any tougher and now you’re going against Cam Newton. … He is a top-notch drop-back
quarterback, but he can run with it better than the rest of them."
Phillips, who has been a head coach and a top coordinator in the NFL for decades, said the closest
comparison he could make was when Michael Vick was an elite passer with the Atlanta Falcons. But that
doesn’t account for Newton’s defensive end-like size.
Phillips wasn’t the only one singing Newton’s praises Friday. Broncos linebacker Von Miller, who was
chosen second overall in the 2011 draft behind Newton, gushed over both Newton’s ability and
personality.
"I don’t think there’s another quarterback that’s ever played the game the way he does, especially the
way his personality is on the field," Miller said.
"I’m just a big fan of everything that he has going for him. He’s a huge role model. If he played defense,
he probably would’ve gotten $220 million because he can probably rush the passer and drop back and
do safety and all that stuff, too. I’m a big fan."
Indoor practice: While it was a nice day in Denver Friday, coach Gary Kubiak chose to hold practice
inside the team’s bubble. That was because the wind was blowing hard and Kubiak finds a windy day
tends to cut down on his team’s energy and chatter at practice.
Three Broncos didn’t practice Friday: Safeties Darian Stewart (knee) and T.J. Ward (ankle) and guard
Louis Vasquez (knee). Kubiak said Vasquez likely would have practiced outdoors on grass, but the team
thought it best not to subject Vasquez’s sore knee to artificial turf.
Eye on offense: Offensive coordinator Rick Dennison reiterated an on-going theme this week – that the
Broncos must perform better offensively in the Super Bowl than they did in generating 20 points to beat
the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
"I think you said it right, there’s always room for improvement. I think we just have so many plays we
see that we miss.," Dennison said. "Hey, let’s go make them next time. We have to make those. Last
week is just like a lot of different weeks. We had too many opportunities that we need to take
advantage of."
One big worry for Super Bowl Sunday in Denver: drunk
drivers
By Ben Miller
Denver Business Journal
January 29, 2016
When the Denver Broncos last played in a Super Bowl two years ago, drinking violations soared.
According to the Denver-based alcohol testing company Alcohol Monitoring Systems (AMS), "when the
Denver Broncos played in Super Bowl XLVIII, drinking violations for monitored offenders in that state
jumped an astonishing 191 percent compared to the rest of the country."
And these drinking violations were made by people who knew they were being monitored.
"The individuals we monitor are being tested every 30 minutes, and they know they're going to be
caught. You can imagine the rate of drinking for those who aren't being monitored," said AMS vice
president Lou Sugo, in a statement.
"According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 43 percent of all traffic
fatalities on Super Bowl Sunday in 2012 were caused by drunk driving, compared to an average of 31
percent during the rest of the year," AMS said in its statement.
The NHTSA has initiated a campaign to alert drivers about the dangers of drinking and driving on Super
Bowl Sunday.
See more Denver Business Journal coverage of Super Bowl 50 by clicking here.
Denver Broncos – The Other Super Bowl Team
By Jason Keidel
CBS 4 Denver
January 29, 2016
Despite the national spotlight almost squarely on Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers, there actually
are two teams in Super Bowl 50.
Carolina deserves the top billing, with the top player and the league’s top record beaming from the
marquee. Cam Newton has turned into the Terminator, morphing into the dual-threat many thought
Colin Kaepernick would become. And the way they vaporized the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC
Championship should impress any football devotee.
But before you toss the dirt over Denver — suddenly a 6-point underdog in some precincts — consider
they’ve only lost once by more than one score all season. That was in Week 10 against the Chiefs.
And though Carolina seems to drop 30 points by halftime every week, the Broncos’ D has only
surrendered that many points in one game all season. They yielded a total of 34 points combined to the
pyrotechnic Patriots and Steelers in the playoffs. (Granted, the Steelers were hamstrung without
Le’Veon Bell, DeAngelo Williams and Antonio Brown.)
So in the quintessential matchup between the irresistible force and the immovable object, the stats lean
toward the latter.
While Carolina’s offense scored a robust 32.2 points per game, teams that have led the NFL in scoring
have reached the super Bowl 21 times, and have won just 10 of them.
Meanwhile, Denver allowed the fewest yards per game, at 283.3. And the NFL’s top-ranked defense has
reached the Super Bowl 11 times, and is 9-2.
Just two years ago, the best defense (Seattle) met the best offense (Denver) in the Super Bowl, and the
results defied the public, pundits and point spread. The biblical beating led John Elway to retool,
spending ample quid and draft picks on defense, tilting their gridiron rankings from top offense to top
defense.
Carolina is overwhelming teams, essentially ending games by halftime, while ringing up 500 points over
the season. But only four teams to score at least 500 points have won the Super Bowl (1994 49ers, 1998
Broncos, 1999 Rams and 2009 Saints).
According to The New York Times, of the top-10 scoring offenses in NFL history — based on points-pergame — only the ’99 Rams won the Super Bowl. And they were 10th on the list.
Then there’s the Sheriff. The soap operatic ending for Peyton Manning, whom no one reasonably
expected to be here after the aforementioned game agains the Chiefs. Manning threw four, first-half
picks and was benched in favor of Brock Osweiler.
It would not have been a stretch to assume you’d never see Manning again. Between his age and
injuries, the weathered icon seemed to limp off the gridiron for the final time.
Now he’s on a roll, having vanquished his career-long nemesis, Tom Brady, and seems to be entering the
Super Bowl as America’s darling. Manning is the first QB to lead two teams to multiple Super Bowls, and
is looking to become the first starting QB to win a Super Bowl with different clubs.
Not only is he looking to win Super Bowl 50, Manning is looking for win No. 200. That would break a tie
with Brett Favre for the most overall victories, including regular season and playoffs.
This isn’t the first time an aging Bronco has had the wind and world sentiment at his back. John Elway
played his last game in the Super Bowl, and won. Granted, those Atlanta Falcons don’t resemble these
Panthers. But a diminished legend can win the big game if he has the team around him.
While at least 70 percent of the betting public is slapping its money on Carolina, it’s unfair to assume the
Broncos are roadkill on the Panthers’ road to the title. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Or
is the best offense a great defense?
Super Bowl Referee Is No Stranger to Bizarre Episodes
By Victor Mather
The New York Times
January 29, 2016
Referees have made a lot of news this season, not all of it favorable, and the N.F.L. will hope that the
Super Bowl is not remembered for another officiating blunder. Perhaps it is odd, then, that the league
has chosen Clete Blakeman as the Super Bowl 50 referee. He struggled to flip a coin successfully earlier
in the playoffs and also played a small but vital role in the Deflategate contretemps, a misadventure the
league probably wants to forget.
At the start of overtime in the divisional playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona
Cardinals on Jan. 16, Aaron Rodgers of the Packers called tails. Blakeman threw the coin up, and it
landed on heads without ever flipping over, prompting yelps of complaint from the Packers.
Blakeman decided to retoss the coin, and it landed on heads again, potentially avoiding a major
controversy. The Cardinals elected to receive and marched down the field for a touchdown and a win.
Blakeman has refereed four playoff games in his career, though this will be his first Super Bowl
appearance. One of the games was Denver Broncos’ 24-17 divisional-round win over the San Diego
Chargers in January 2014.
More memorable was a regular-season game in November 2012 between the Carolina Panthers and the
New England Patriots in which a potential game-winning pass by Tom Brady was picked off in the end
zone. A flag was initially thrown for pass interference on Luke Kuechly, but it was picked up, with
Blakeman explaining later that the ball was uncatchable, to the annoyance of New England fans. Brady
gave the officials an earful after the game.
Perhaps it is just as well the Patriots are not in this year’s Super Bowl, as some of their fans also have a
grievance with Blakeman because of his link to last season’s ball deflation controversy. Blakeman was an
alternate official at the A.F.C. championship game last January, ordinarily not a job that becomes a flash
point of controversy. But along with another alternate, Dyrol Prioleau, Blakeman was asked to test the
inflation of Patriots game balls at halftime after a complaint by the Colts.
All 12 Patriot balls were found to be below the legal inflation level. The two officials used different
pressure gauges, and Blakeman’s showed lower levels on every ball.
He also was interviewed for the Wells report and supplied the detail that referee Walt Anderson was
“visibly concerned and uncharacteristically used an expletive when the game balls could not be located.”
He also said that the Patriots locker room attendant Jim McNally had taken the game balls to the field
on his own without permission, which was a “break in our normal protocol.”
Officials for the playoffs are chosen based on their performance in the regular season, said Michael
Signora, a league spokesman. “They are ranked by position, based on their accuracy percentage, which
includes calls made and not made,” he said. The Super Bowl referee must have three years of
experience at that position and have refereed a playoff game in a previous year.
Blakeman was a backup quarterback at Nebraska, throwing 79 passes in his career. He went on to earn a
law degree from Nebraska and practices personal injury law in Omaha. After two years as a field judge,
he was promoted to referee for the 2010 season.
It is hard to find many trends in Blakeman’s refereeing statistics; perhaps that is what the league likes
about him. According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, his crews have called 49.6 percent of penalties on
the home team, and the home team wins 57.8 percent of his games; both figures are right about
average. The crews call about 12 penalties a game, also an average figure.
This season, his penalties-called figure was up slightly, to 14.0, but the league’s figure was also higher
than usual, at 13.7.
Not every referee falls so neatly near the league average. Carl Cheffers’s crew this season called 16.3
penalties a game, including 25 in a Chargers-Raiders game on Christmas Eve. Gene Steratore’s crews
called only 11.1, including only five in the Eagles-Giants season finale on Jan. 3.
Blakeman’s Super Bowl staff is rounded out by Jeff Rice (umpire), Wayne Mackie (head linesman), Rusty
Baynes (line judge), Boris Cheek (field judge), Scott Edwards (side judge) and Keith Ferguson (back
judge).
Peyton Manning and Cam Newton, NFL's once and
future kings, provide juicy Super Bowl storyline
By Peter Schmuck
The Baltimore Sun
January 30, 2016
There will be no storyline unturned during the week-long buildup to the enticing Super Bowl 50 matchup
between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos, but there will be one that dominates all others.
It is, of course, the matchup between 39-year-old quarterback Peyton Manning and soon-to-be-named
NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton — the once and future kings of the NFL.
The drumbeat has already begun with the strong speculation that Manning will retire after the big game
and the not-surprising revelation that Newton believes racism is a major factor driving criticism in some
quarters about the way he plays the game.
That sad reality is hard to dispute. We live in a country of more than 320 million people, a segment of
which will always give in to baser instincts and now has a largely anonymous mixed blessing called social
media to express them.
Combine that with the old-school former players and middle-aged media commentators who bemoan
the on-field histrionics of today's players and you get the silly debate over Newton's flamboyant
behavior, which juxtapositions predictably with Manning's businesslike on-field persona.
News flash: Professional football is a form of entertainment and there are few players in the NFL more
entertaining than Newton.
Make that none.
He can do it all and he has done most of it this season, leading the Panthers on a nearly perfect run to
the Super Bowl. The fact that he thinks he's Superman may rankle fans of other teams, but they might
recall the words of another famous African-American lightning rod from an earlier era.
"It's not bragging,'' Muhammad Ali used to say, "if you can back it up."
Newton would be the prototypical next-generation quarterback if he wasn't a one-of-a-kind talent. He's
the greatest combination of size, speed and quickness ever to play his position, and he's not limited to
one style of play. He has the diverse skill set to excel in any offense.
Strangely, the thing that seems to get under the skin of some people is his unbridled exuberance, which
is understandably irritating to fans of the teams he dispatched with such regularity on the way to the
Panthers' impressive 17-1 record.
Soon-to-be Hall of Famer Brett Favre used to play that way and nobody seemed to mind. Maybe he
didn't have a signature touchdown display, but times have changed and post-play celebrations are so
common in the NFL now that it's time for the old-schoolers to just get over it.
In Newton's case, it's going to be hard to separate the brainless race-based criticism from the standard
fan-hate that every dynamic superstar athlete experiences to some degree.
Tom Brady, for instance, doesn't have to, but he is disliked by a large swath of the football public
because of a combination of factors ranging from his involvement in Deflategate to his constant reflobbying to his jet-set lifestyle.
Ben Roethlisberger has his detractors because of a sketchy past and Manning never stops hearing about
the fact that he has been so much better during the regular season than when it really counts.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco even has critics in Baltimore because he isn't Brady, Manning and
Roethlisberger all rolled into one.
Whatever the motivation, Newton has a chance to silence his critics in a hurry. The Panthers are favored
to win Super Bowl 50 and take their lofty place in NFL history. They might or might not be one of the
game's all-time great teams, but they definitely are one of the most exciting and they can thank their
superhero quarterback for that.
Newton will have to put up with the fact that Manning will be the sentimental favorite this week, but
that's because of the strong suspicion that he will be playing in the final game of his terrific career.
Manning has been one of the game's beloved figures for much of the past two decades, both because of
his tremendous talent and his omnipresence as a lovable commercial pitchman.
It's possible that Manning will be passing the baton to Newton on both of those fronts next Sunday.
Cam appears to be the choice of a new generation.
Ravens' biggest loss last offseason, Gary Kubiak, taking
advantage of second chance as head coach
By Mike Preston
The Baltimore Sun
January 30, 2016
During an interview with The Baltimore Sun in August of 2014, Denver Broncos general manager John
Elway spoke so glowingly of Gary Kubiak that he was afraid the NFL would levy a tampering charge
against him.
But in that 30-minute interview, it was easy to conclude that if the Broncos needed a head coach, Elway
would pursue Kubiak. Nearly five months later, Kubiak became the top Bronco, and Denver is preparing
to play the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 next Sunday.
It's hard to predict how front office marriages with the head coach will work out, but if you were around
Kubiak for the 2014 season when he was the Ravens offensive coordinator, you knew it was only a
matter of time before he would be near the top of his profession again.
It was reminiscent of Bill Belichick when he was the Cleveland Browns head coach from 1991 through
1995. Like Belichick, Kubiak had little success in his first stint as a head coach, with the Houston Texans
from 2006 to 2013. But both were too detailed-oriented, too driven to fail a second time.
Kubiak doesn't have the stoic demeanor of Belichick, but he exudes the same confidence and no nonsense approach to the game. He allowed Wade Phillips to run his defense this season and at the same
time handled superstar quarterback Peyton Manning well enough to keep control of his team.
Kubiak, 54, doesn't just have a style, but a system. When Denver fans booed the Broncos this season
because of an inconsistent running game and few explosive plays, Kubiak kept pounding away and
allowed his top-ranked defense to win games.
He still doesn't appear to sweat much.
"He is a system guy," said Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. "He believes in who he is and what he
is teaching. He isn't going to deviate from his philosophy. That offense just goes on and on. He gets a
running back, plugs him in and off he goes."
You saw that here with the Ravens, and his presence was immediate on Day 1. Kubiak didn't just coach
and pop in and out of the huddle, but he was an overseer. At times, he would go on the defensive side
of the ball 40 yards away from scrimmages just to look at his offense and formations.
There was never a lot of screaming and shouting, but he still had the omnipresence of a head coach.
Clearly, the front office and coach John Harbaugh had given him complete autonomy over the offense.
When Kubiak talked, everybody listened. He connected with the players. There are always some players
who will speak negatively about an assistant coach in private, but that was never the case with Kubiak.
His coaching expertise showed on the field. In 2014, the Ravens established franchise single-season
records in total yards (5,838) and points (409). The Ravens ranked 12th in the league total offense and
eighth in rushing.
Like he had done several times in Denver when he was the quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator
from 1995 to 2005, Kubiak turned a no-name running back, Justin Forsett, into a 1,000-yard rusher.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco had a career year as well, throwing for 3,986 yards and 27 touchdowns.
He completed 344 of 554 passes and had only 12 interceptions, 10 fewer than in 2013.
Kubiak put Flacco in a comfort zone, which hasn't always been easy to do. Flacco never got along with
former offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and he has a solid, but sometimes strained relationship with
current coordinator Marc Trestman.
Kubiak was demanding of Flacco. He was a stickler about mechanics, especially insistent about Flacco
planting his back foot before throwing. And it's hard to argue with Kubiak. He has participated in six
Super Bowls and has three rings. The list of quarterbacks he has worked with includes Hall of Famers Joe
Montana, Steve Young and Elway.
In his last couple of seasons in Denver, he had to convince Elway that he didn't need to carry the
offense, that the Broncos could win by hitching a ride on the legs of running back Terrell Davis. Denver
won back-to-back titles with Elway as the starter in 1997 and 1998.
So if there was a coach who had the credentials to deliver a similar message to Manning this season, it
was Kubiak. Denver's offense is a hybrid of Kubiak's West Coast offense and the one Manning used in
Indianapolis.
Kubiak got solid production out of backup quarterback Brock Osweiler while Manning was injured, and
reinserted Manning when he thought the season was close to coming to and end. Manning has turned
into a game manager at this point of his career, but it's not about ego. It's about wins and losses. It's
about championships.
That message has gotten across to everyone in the Broncos locker room, which isn't always the case
when dealing with an aging superstar. To look at Kubiak's impact on the Broncos, just look at the
Ravens.
Trestman didn't have much to work with this season, but the Ravens had no offensive identity and they
gave up on the run way too early in some games. Whereas Kubiak had total control, the Ravens again
have too many assistants tinkering with the offense.
Kubiak's loss was the biggest of the offseason for the Ravens. He just has that type of presence about
him. Some guys are born to lead, some guys are followers.
Kubiak was born to be a head coach and he might end up being one of the best ever when he is done.
Kubiak’s Corner: Head coach wishing “Mr. B” could be
around this week
By Ryan Koenigsberg
BSN Denver
January 29, 2016
Denver Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen took over the team in 1984. Since then, the Broncos have been in
two Super Bowls in every decade other than 2000-2010. With three appearances in the 90’s it makes for
seven in just 32 years of ownership, those seven tie Bowlen for the most Super Bowl births of any owner
in NFL history.
In the summer of 2014, amidst his struggle with Alzheimers, Bowlen relinquished his control of the
team, putting ownership operations into the hands of team president Joe Ellis. Despite that, “Mr. B,” as
he is affectionately called around these parts, is still one of the most respected owners in sports and
missed on a daily basis at the facility with his name stamped on the outside.
On Thursday, head coach Gary Kubiak expressed that sentiment and reflected on Bowlen’s legacy.
“This organization, his family has been about winning since he walked in here,” he said. “Very special.
It’s tough. I wish he was around here with us, but I know it means a lot to the family. I got a chance to
visit with a lot of them after the game the other day, so just very proud to be a part of it but very proud
of him, the job he’s done here with this franchise. It’s been tremendous.”
After the Broncos clinched this trip to the Super Bowl, Kubiak called it a proud moment to be a part of
Bowlen’s legacy. The affection for the long-time owner is vast within the organization and matched by
the great fans of the Orange & Blue.
As she stood on the stage with the triumphant Broncos to accept the hardware for their second AFC
Championship in three years, Bowlen’s wife Annabel expressed the words that so many Denver faithful
now have on their minds.
“Let’s get it done for Pat, and go Broncos!”
There would be no better way to honor his great legacy.
Broncos safeties listed as questionable for Super Bowl
By Mike Florio
Pro Football Talk
January 29, 2016
The two-week gap between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl results in a
somewhat strange approach to the injury report. The teams scheduled to play in the title game supply
traditional injury reports not only on the Friday before the Super Bowl but the preceding Friday.
The Panthers have seven players who currently are 50-50 propositions to play. The Broncos have three.
They are safety Darian Stewart (knee), guard Louis Vasquez (knee), and safety T.J. Ward (ankle). Neither
Stewart nor Ward practiced all week.
Probable for the game are safety Josh Bush (shoulder), tight end Owen Daniels (knees), linebacker Todd
Davis (shoulder), cornerback Chris Harris (shoulder), safety Shiloh Keo (quadricep), quarterback Peyton
Manning (foot), linebacker Brandon Marshall (ankle), guard Evan Mathis (ankle), and linebacker
DeMarcus Ware (knee).
While quarterback Brock Osweiler presumably won’t play in Super Bowl 50 (barring injury or blowout),
Osweiler has exited the injury report for the first time this postseason, which means that his sprained
MCL is healed.
Former NFL running back Derek Loville busted in drug
ring
By Darin Gantt
Pro Football Talk
January 29, 2016
Former Broncos, 49ers and Seahawks running back Derek Loville has been a busy guy since leaving the
NFL.
But he may be wearing a new uniform soon, after he was named in a federal indictment accused of drug
trafficking, sports gambling and money laundering.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the 47-year-old Loville was part of a group of 22 people rounded up
for a drug ring that stretched across the country. The group was led by a former Southern Cal football
player named Owen Hanson who was already in custody. Loville reportedly distributed drugs in Arizona.
The report said the drug ring sent a video to one man’s home which showed two men beheaded with a
chainsaw and a butcher’s knife, and sent him pictures of the desecrated gravesite of his parents to try to
scare him into paying money he owed.
The group was also involved with gambling and laundering money through shell corporations.
USADA says it’s assisting the NFL’s Manning
investigation
By Mike Florio
Pro Football Talk
January 29, 2016
Earlier this week, the NFL and ESPN went back and forth regarding the question of whether the NFL is or
isn’t cooperating with Major League Baseball and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in connection with an
investigation regarding allegations from Al Jazeera that multiple pro athletes used performanceenhancing drugs.
Now, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says that it is helping with the NFL’s investigation regarding the
question of whether Peyton Manning obtained HGH from the Guyer Institute in Indianapolis.
The report from the Associated Press is light on details; indeed, USADA CEO Travis Tygart said he
couldn’t comment on the subject, due to the fact that the agency is assisting the league.
The NFL likely will claim that this information breaks the tie with the ESPN regarding the question of
whether the NFL agreed to cooperate with MLB and the USADA. ESPN likely will claim that it’s evidence
only of the fact that the USADA is helping the NFL, and nothing more.
In the end, none of it matters because the NFL has no power to obtain the information that it needs to
properly investigate the situation: Documents from the Guyer Institute showing exactly what
compounds were sent to Peyton Manning and his wife, and why.
Broncos starting safeties miss practice again
By Zac Jackson
Pro Football Talk
January 29, 2016
The Broncos practiced without starting safeties Darian Stewart and T.J. Ward for a second straight day
Friday.
Stewart has a sprained MCL but has vowed that he will be ready to go for the Super Bowl on Feb 7.
Ward aggravated an ankle injury in the AFC Championship Game.
The Broncos will practice again Saturday before flying to the Bay Area on Sunday.
The Panthers are listing seven players as questionable, including starters Thomas Davis, Ryan Kalil,
Kawann Short, Jonathan Stewart and Charles Johnson.
Panthers list seven players as questionable for Super
Bowl
By Darin Gantt
Pro Football Talk
January 29, 2016
We’re a week away from the final official injury report of the year, and the Panthers seem to be in
pretty good shape heading into Super Bowl 50.
On the report the team released today, seven players are listed as questionable for Super Bowl 50,
including linebacker Thomas Davis, who had surgery Monday to put a plate and “11 or 12” screws in his
broken right arm.
Running back Jonathan Stewart (ankle) and fullback Mike Tolbert (knee) were the other 50-50s who
didn’t participate in Friday’s final practice in Charlotte. Four other players were listed as being limited in
practice: Defensive end Charles Johnson (knee), center Ryan Kalil (knee), defensive tackle Kawann Short
(knee) and running back Fozzy Whittaker (ankle).
Three other players were listed as probable. Veteran defensive tackle Dwan Edwards was listed as not
injury related, while wide receiver Philly Brown (ankle) and cornerback Robert McClain (ankle) all fully
participated in Friday’s work.
There’s a significant amount of veteran maintenance on that list, but the fact defensive end Jared Allen
(foot) wasn’t listed seems like an encouraging sign.
CBS defends the work of expert official Mike Carey
By Darin Gantt
Pro Football Talk
January 29, 2016
If there’s a controversial call in Super Bowl 50, CBS will pitch it to former referee Mike Carey.
And while there’s a seemingly good chance Carey will get that call wrong, his bosses defended his work
leading into next week’s broadcast.
“I’ve seen some of the criticism, and I think some of it is very hurtful, quite frankly,” CBS Sports chairman
Sean McManus said, via Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today.
You mean like this, Sean?
While Carey’s a stationary target, in fairness to him it’s entirely possible the crews on the field are
screwing it up on a regular basis while he’s the one getting it right.
But his penchant for saying the opposite of what transpires moments later has become a fixture of CBS
broadcasts.
“But Mike is learning his craft and, I think more often than not, he has gotten it right,” McManus said.
“But I’ll also say that he has disagreed a number of times in some very high profile situations with what
the [replay] officials have come back with. . . .
“It’s funny, the vast majority of the calls that Mike has made have been correct. I sit there on Sunday
afternoon, and he’ll do sometimes, a dozen different cut-ins to our various regional games, and he’s
almost always right.”
McManus did admit that Carey may have gone too far on some calls, and that exuberance my have led
to some problems.
“Mike has perhaps gone out on a limb more than he should in trying to guess or speculate what a call
will be, but all he is giving is his opinion of what he would call if he were on the field,” McManus said.
“And if it’s a different result, I think people get frustrated. But I think people would understand that
Mike is only giving his opinion.”
Which is the same thing we’re doing, when we say we must not be getting the majority of the CBS
broadcasts when Carey’s nailing it.
Kubiak will trust his guys during Super Bowl week
By Mike Florio
Pro Football Talk
January 29, 2016
The Broncos’ second Super Bowl win came after a Saturday night arrest of Falcons safety Eugene
Robinson for solicitation of prostitution. Multiple other Super Bowls were marred by player misbehavior
during the week of the game.
Coach Gary Kubiak, who was an assistant coach on the Denver team that benefited from Robinson’s
blunder in early 1999, won’t be taking any special precautions to ensure that his players don’t find
trouble, or vice-versa.
“First off, I trust my guys,” Kubiak told reporters on Thursday. “They’ve been great all year. I pretty much
put that in the captains hands, to be honest with you. We’re going to have our preparation. They’ve
done a good job with this football team. Our accountability has been very good. Obviously that’s a tough
environment, but I’ve trusted them all year and I’ll trust them again this week.”
It makes sense; “the Sheriff” definitely will keep guys in line. But spending the entire week in a different
city creates a different set of potential challenges and distractions, which necessarily creates an added
risk that something will go wrong.
And while the pre-Super bowl embarrassments have been few since Robinson’s escapades of a
generation ago, here’s an important point to remember. Mike Freeman, then of the New York Times,
reported that Falcons players weren’t surprised about Robinson’s arrest in an area of Miami known for
prostitution because, as one starter said, “Guys had been going there all week. It’s just that Eugene was
the only one who got caught.”
For the Broncos and Panthers, the best way to avoid getting caught doing something that could get you
arrested will be to not do that something. Both teams seem to have the kind of strong, in-house leaders
who would keep that kind of stuff from happening.
Which likely means I’ve now jinxed one or both teams.
Vernon Davis says return to Levi’s Stadium is “surreal”
By Mike Florio
Pro Football Talk
January 29, 2016
Tight end Vernon Davis will be capping a contract year as a largely invisible man in the Denver offense.
He doesn’t seem to be bothered by that. In fact, few seem to even notice it.
A five-question press conference on Thursday addressed in no way his diminished role in the offense or
his complete lack of production in the passing game since seemingly having a breakthrough with seven
catches for 74 yards in a 15-12 home loss to the Raiders. Since then, Davis has caught one pass for five
yards, and that came the following week at Pittsburgh. In four straight critical wins since then, two of
which delivered the No. 1 seed and the next two of which put the Broncos into the Super Bowl, Davis
hasn’t caught a single pass.
Still, the five questions he got on Thursday — and the answers he provided — addressed in no way the
struggles he’s had this year. Which made the entire session fit with a term he used to describe the
looming return to his former home field for the Super Bowl.
“It all seemed surreal to me when we first got the win over the Patriots,” Davis told reporters. “I was
like, ‘Wow, we’re actually going back to Levi’s Stadium.’ It couldn’t get any better that. It couldn’t get
any better than this. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m very pleased, thankful and excited all at the
same time for an opportunity to go in and experience this year’s Super Bowl in Levi’s Stadium.”
Well, it could get better than that. Davis could be returning not as an afterthought but as the impact
player he was in past postseasons for the team that now plays at Levi’s Field. Three years ago, he had
100-yard receiving games in the NFC championship and the Super Bowl. The year before, he had 292
yards in a pair of playoff games that nearly resulted in a Super Bowl berth. The year after, he caught a
pair of postseason touchdowns, including one in Charlotte, during a 23-10 win over the Panthers.
Davis then was asked whether there’s “added motivation” to play in his former home stadium.
“Sometimes you just have to let things go,” Davis said. “It’s nothing personal. My mindset and my focus
is on this game and doing whatever I can do. Whether it’s going out there and getting two or three big
blocks, whatever it may be to help this team win in Super Bowl 50. That’s my only goal.”
It’s a fair answer, but it implies he’s actually contributing something more than getting “two or three big
blocks” (if he’s even doing that). He’s been MIA for more than a month, but he wasn’t asked about that
at all.
The rest of the questions dealt with staying calm in the moment, having nerves the week before the
game, and preparing mentally and physically for the Super Bowl. Which would be fine questions, if his
complete and total lack of production wasn’t the large gray mammal with a trunk and tusks and his
wrinkly butt plopped onto on the futon.
It’s safe to say that, once the Broncos arrive in San Francisco and have multiple media availabilities
attended by reporters from all over the world (including reporters who cover the 49ers), Davis will be
asked directly about why he has disappeared, whether it bothers him, and why anyone should think he’ll
spend much more of his return to Levi’s Stadium watching the game than playing in it.
Peyton: Offense can’t take defense for granted
By Josh Alper
Pro Football Talk
January 29, 2016
Panthers stars Luke Kuechly and Josh Norman spent time Thursday making sure everyone knows that
the Panthers defense isn’t overconfident about facing off with Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense
as they make their way to Super Bowl 50.
That’s left it to the Broncos to discuss their offensive issues over the course of the season and neither
Manning nor head coach Gary Kubiak has shied away from doing that. Both were blunt with Kubiak
saying simply that the offense needs to play better and Manning saying “our defense has gotten us to
this point.” The quarterback said that the Broncos can’t count on the defense doing all the heavy lifting
against Carolina.
“All of us offensive guys want to carry our weight and not take the defense for granted,” Manning said,
via the Charlotte Observer. “We are working hard to prepare, but we have a tremendous challenge in
front of us. There’s no question that we can improve and that we would like to improve. I assure you our
effort and will to prepare is certainly there.”
There is room for improvement, obviously, but it seems unlikely that there will be a dramatic difference
in the Broncos offense a week from Sunday from the one we’ve seen all season. If it remains the largely
turnover free one from the last two weeks, however, that may be enough to make the defense’s effort
stand up once again.
In Wade Phillips' defense, 'scheme fit' doesn't matter -if you can play, you play
By Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos.com
January 30, 2016
Over the next few months, you'll hear a lot about whether a player is a specific "scheme fit" for a team.
In the 2015 offseason, there was plenty of chatter about whether Brandon Marshall and Danny
Trevathan were "scheme fits" for Wade Phillips' defense, because in the perception of some, neither
seemed to fit the size template for inside linebackers that Phillps had used.
Of course, they did just fine, thank you. They helped the Broncos lead the league in rushing defense on a
per-carry basis, allowing 3.3 yards per rush, and last Sunday, they were showing their coverage abilities,
chasing Patriots running backs on wheel routes up the field.
"Oh, man, it was so funny, because they came in after the game and they were like, 'Man, we know how
you feel now having to go out and cover these deep routes, and then come back and line up again,'"
recalled cornerback Chris Harris Jr. "I said, 'Yeah, you know how we feel for 80, 82 plays!'
"They did a great job, man. When you've got two linebackers that can cover, that's critical in the NFL
now, the way offenses are."
And their work in the AFC Championship Game proved a point: Outstanding players can just play,
regardless of the scheme or the specific role on a snap.
"These two linebackers might be the fastest linebackers in the league," Harris said. "I don't know if
they've seen anybody who's faster from sideline to sideline as Danny and [Marshall]."
So much for the notion that they might not fit Phillips' scheme.
"I don't understand the people that say, 'Hey, this is our scheme and that guy can't play in it,' a guy that
can play, and is a good player, but, 'He can't play in our scheme.' To me, there's something wrong with
your scheme," Phillips said. "You adapt the scheme to what the players can do, not what you can think
of."
Phillips knows no other way, going back to when he first broke into the NFL in 1976 on his father's
coaching staff in Houston.
"We started with Elvin Bethea, who is in the Hall of Fame now. We played a lot of the same things we
play now, but he was so quick and so fast that we stunted him all the time," Phillips recalled. "He was
our second-leading tackler on the team at defensive end.
"He was a great player, but we didn't let him sit there all the time playing our technique that you have to
play, two-gap or whatever. I've had guys that played two-gap, and played it well, so we've played twogap with those guys."
The same is true on the inside, where Sylvester Williams has made the transition to nose tackle and
delivered a solid season. He proved to be a fit -- but in the future, Darius Kilgo could also see more
repetitions and flourish, too.
"The nose guards that I've had -- I've had four or five of them make the Pro Bowl. All of them were
different," Phillips said. "Ted Washington was huge. Jamal Williams [in San Diego], he was a powerful
guy, so we offset him on the nose and he played the same gap, but he hard-charged. We had Greg
Kragen here (under Phillips from 1989-93); he was an undersized nose guard, and we stunted him to
that same gap."
"It's the same defense, but it's different players, and that's what you have to do."
It's true on every line of defense, and at every position, as Phillips continued by citing Quentin Jammer, a
long-time Charger who played the 2013 season in Denver.
"We had Quentin Jammer -- whose name was perfect because he wasn’t great playing off, but he was
great at jamming a guy on the line of scrimmage. In zone, man and everything that we did, he jammed
the guy on line of scrimmage and played well.
"That’s what you do. That’s a simple way of telling you how you play with players you have and fit your
scheme to what they can do. That’s the only way I can explain it, I guess."
It's a simple explanation, but in a Phillips defense, it's worth remembering: If you have the tools and
wherewithal to succeed in the NFL, he will find a way to make you fit. That's what coaches do; they
tweak their concepts to fit their players.
The Broncos wouldn't have the No. 1 defense in the league without that mentality.
The gang's all here: Broncos on injured reserve will
travel with teammates on team plane Sunday
By Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos.com
January 29, 2016
Some tweaks to the Broncos' Super Bowl week plan are small and under the radar. Others, like the
decision to wear white jerseys, are impossible to avoid, but don't stand to have much impact on the
actual game beyond a bit of superstition and mojo.
And then there are the moves that are simply about doing the right thing by the people that got you to
the Super Bowl.
That, above all, is why players on injured reserve will travel with the team on its charter to San Jose this
Sunday, rather than remaining back in Colorado to continue receiving treatment and then flying to the
game site later in the week, as was the case two years ago.
"Everybody's going Sunday. We're all together, and we're going to do this together," Head Coach Gary
Kubiak said. "That's the way we've been all year."
"For those IR guys to be able to come, that's great," added cornerback Chris Harris Jr. "To be able to
show the true team aspect, that everybody's been needed, everybody's used -- I like that approach."
No one knows that better than Harris, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the divisional-round
win over San Diego that year and was on injured reserve. While his teammates flew to Newark. N.J. in
advance of Super Bowl 48's week of incessant build-up, Harris was in Denver four extra days, arriving on
the following Thursday.
"I wasn't even a part of the team," Harris remembered.
That meant missing Media Day, missing the team charter's heralded arrival at an airport hangar, missing
the sight of hordes of fans lining the streets around the Broncos' hotel to give them a warm welcome to
their home away from home.
Harris, Ryan Clady, Von Miller, Derek Wolfe and eight others happened to be injured at the time, they
couldn't experience all of what they helped create, solely because they happened to be on injured
reserve.
"That was so hard, to not be in any of that, to enjoy that," Harris said. "For those guys to get to enjoy
that this time -- I'm happy for them."
That isn't just about players like Omar Bolden, Ty Sambrailo and David Bruton Jr., who contributed in the
regular season before succumbing.
Tight end Jeff Heuerman and left tackle Ryan Clady are a part of it, as well, even though their seasons
ended with torn anterior cruciate ligaments suffered last May. Both have been at the UCHealth Training
Center as often as their teammates, focused on rehabilitation work.
"They've been a big part of us. They've been with us," Kubiak said. "One thing I ask guys to do when
they're on IR is to stay involved with the team; don't just remove yourself. Guys have done that. It's
important."
For the star-crossed Clady, the situation is uniquely painful, because this will now be the second Super
Bowl for which he was unavailable because of a season-ending injury.
"It's got to be hard for him, missing two Super Bowls," Harris said. "For him to travel with us on Sunday - I definitely know it means a lot to him."
After pinch work at safety, Chris Harris Jr. hopes he can
stay at cornerback for a while
By Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos.com
January 29, 2016
Although both T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart were officially listed as questionable on the post-practice
injury report Friday, the Broncos expect their starting safety duo to play in Super Bowl 50.
That suits Chris Harris Jr. just fine, because he is not eager to make an encore appearance at safety -- at
least, not for a while.
With Ward and Stewart sidelined, the Broncos moved Harris to the safety spot near the line of
scrimmage late in the game, where he had to help set the defense before the snap and often had presnap coverage responsibility on Rob Gronkowski.
Harris has seen a sprinkling of safety looks over the course of the season, and worked at the position at
the University of Kansas, but his duties late Sunday were something entirely new.
Secondary coach Joe Woods approached Harris on the sideline and told him he had to learn which calls
he would have to make -- and learn them fast.
"We've got so many calls in our playbook, and I had to go through everything, try to remember
everything," Harris said. "He went through every call and I had to learn that responsibility as fast as I
can.
"It was so hard, because we were calling so many calls, it was like, 'Bam, what do I run on this?'" Harris
added later, laughing at the memory.
"It definitely made me have to think a lot more. You could definitely tell i was a little bit more hesitant.
But we got through the game, man. We got the win, we got through it and we figured out a way."
And now, it's back to his usual work on the outside for as long as he handles it well -- until there comes a
time where a coach taps him on the shoulder and moves him to safety, something he knows could
happen someday.
"I pray it doesn't happen again -- not until I'm in year 10, year 12!" he said.
How the Broncos are preparing for Cam Newton, a
quarterback like no one else
By Ben Swanson
DenverBroncos.com
January 29, 2016
In reaching the Super Bowl, the Broncos have gone through the wringer in terms of defeating some of
the most challenging quarterbacks the NFL has to offer.
The Broncos began the playoffs with Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger, who boasted the league's top
mark in passing yards per game. A week after the Broncos took down Pittsburgh, Denver hosted the
Patriots and Tom Brady, who threw 36 touchdowns—a league-leading figure—against just seven
interceptions.
And now they have the delight of facing the most dangerous quarterback in the NFL, who doesn't just
have the ability to torch defenses with his arm. Newton, who is expected to receive NFL MVP honors in a
week, averaged 239.8 passing yards per game with 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He added 636
rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
"You go from Roethlisberger to Tom Brady and think it won't get any tougher and then now you're going
against Cam Newton," Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips said with a grin. "They asked me if I'd seen a
quarterback like Cam Newton, and there isn't one like him. So, I haven't seen one like him. None of us
have. [He has] tremendous talent, he's put it all together and I'm sure he's going to be the MVP of the
league this year, so [it's] another big challenge for us."
To prepare for that challenge, the coaches have told the scout-team quarterbacks where the
vulnerabilities in specific defenses are during practice and told them to attack those weaknesses. That
process, Phillips said, will get the Broncos ready for each way Newton does much of his damage.
"We set it up for each defense we have," Phillips said. "We tell them 'On this defense, it might be a little
vulnerable to him running with the ball,' and we'll tell [the quarterback] to run around with the ball to
make sure everybody's watching the quarterback. We've got some defenses where we don't feel like he
can run but he's going to have to throw it, so we make him throw it to certain receivers. So that's the
process you do as far as getting ready for a guy like that."
With his size, speed, vision and throwing ability, it's hard to find a comparison for all that Newton brings.
From the standpoint of his 245-pound frame, pocket presence and arm strength, Newton could
resemble Roethlisberger, but no quarterback sees the designed quarterback runs like Newton does.
"The drop-back stuff and being able to throw the ball the way he can throw the ball is similar, but him
being able to run—and his called runs, they're options and those kinds of things," Phillips said. "It's not
just a quarterback going back and running with the football. A lot of their offense is him being able to
run the football and they call plays that he's going to run the ball. Most teams don't do that. They can't
afford to lose their quarterback."
Carolina, of course, can't afford to lose its MVP candidate, either, but Newton is built like a linebacker or
a tight end. He's able to carry the ball consistently without fear of injury or turnovers.
"He is the top-notch drop-back quarterback, but he can run with it better than the rest of them, so he's
kind of a combination of how Michael Vick was, but he's the leading passer in the league," Phillips said.
That ability to make something out of nothing on runs has helped Newton since he came into the league
and well before, but what really drove this recent development to become one of the league's most
dynamic players is eschewing that except as a last resort, Phillips added.
"Cam actually tries to stay in the pocket more overall," Phillips said. "You say he runs with it, and he
does if there's a lot of pressure, he'll run with it out of the pocket on drop-backs, but he's [done] more
called run plays that he makes yards on. He can, obviously, get out of the pocket and make a big play,
but he tries to throw it in the pocket and that's what's made him a better quarterback all along."
Broncos Injury Update: Ward, Stewart, Vasquez without
helmets
By Andrew Mason
DenverBroncos.com
January 29, 2016
Darian Stewart and T.J. Ward were sidelined for a second consecutive day, but both took mental
repetitions as the Broncos continued Super Bowl 50 preparations on Friday.
Stewart was not on hand for practice Thursday as he recovers from a sprained medical collateral
ligament, but he re-joined Ward in watching the safeties go through their individual work at the start of
practice.
They were joined on the sideline by guard Louis Vasquez, who practiced on a limited basis Thursday.
Head Coach Gary Kubiak said that Vasquez had a sore knee, and that he might have practiced had the
session been held outside on natural grass.
All other Broncos took part in the practice, which was moved inside to the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse to
faciliate smooth work.
What They're Saying: Panthers look to disguise intent
against Manning
By Ben Swanson
DenverBroncos.com
January 29, 2016
For a coach who's spent the majority of his coaching career in the NFC, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera
has seen more than his fair share of games facing Peyton Manning.
The biggest meeting was in Super Bowl XLI when Manning threw for one touchdown and one
interception en route to his first Vince Lombardi Trophy. But Rivera had faced him as early as 1999 when
he was the Eagles' linebackers coach. From that game, a 44-17 drubbing, to the most recent matchup in
2012 when Manning was in his first year as a Bronco, the two have been on opposing sidelines in 10
games and Rivera is well aware of how difficult Manning is to go against.
"I told him one time I hope he writes a book and tells us all the truth," Rivera said Thursday. "He does so
much [at the line of scrimmage] and it’s hard, it really is. I had the fortune of competing against him a
couple times when I was in San Diego and as a coach you try to get past that because he does so many
things.
"He is going to get up there and try to do things to throw you off your game, out of your game, so he can
exploit that. That’s what I see when you put the tapes on and watch the way he does the things he does
at the line of scrimmage, the checks, the audible, the signals to his teammates as to what combination
of routes he wants, you can see that’s all there. To me it’s all about him playing the game and then you
have to react to how he is playing it."
With over 16 years separating Rivera's first look at Manning in a game to this upcoming Super Bowl, the
Panthers head coach still sees much of what he saw then.
"You see the same guy. That’s the biggest thing what people have to understand, he’s a consummate
pro, he’s going to know you, he’s going to understand you, he’s going to attack you the best way he
knows," Rivera said. "He is a very smart, bright football player, he is going to anticipate and do things off
of what he sees. You’ve got to be good at what you do, you have to make sure if you’re disguising, you
are holding your disguise. He wants to undress the defense as quick as possible and get a feel for where
they are going and he will know where to attack. I think it really is a great chess match."