NFL Game Previews: Breaking Down Super Bowl 50

Carolina vs. Denver (+5.5) - Sunday, 6:30 pm EST

Comments: Full disclosure: I grew up in Knoxville, and my first football memory is of watching Super Bowl XII and rooting for Tony Dorsett, who seemed pretty awesome, against those other guys wearing really ugly uniforms that were the wrong shade of orange, so my feelings about Peyton Manning's tenure in Denver have always been very conflicted. With the possibility of this being the final game in Manning's Hall of Fame career looming over the proceedings, I can't guarantee that this won't affect my ability to predict the outcome. That said, this year with Cam Newton I've felt some of the same glee li'l towheaded six-year-old me experienced watching Dorsett, so there's at least an emotional tug the other way to balance things out. Can you tell I'm excited for this game? Why isn't it Sunday already?

Purely from a statistical standpoint, the Panthers have a clear edge. Both teams have elite defenses, arguably the two best units in the league, but the offensive edge resides with Carolina. The Panthers led the NFL during the regular season with 31.3 points per game compared to the Broncos' 19th-place finish with 22.2, and the shellacking Cam and the boys put on an excellent Cardinals defense two weeks ago is still fresh in everyone's minds. The key likely will come on the ground. The Panthers head into the Super Bowl riding a streak of 31 consecutive games with at least 100 team rushing yards, while the Broncos allowed just 83.6 rushing yards per game in the regular season and stuffed both the Steelers (85 yards) and Patriots (44 yards) to get this far. Of course, neither of those opponents had even a Jonathan Stewart available, much less a Newton, but Denver's best chance of winning is through finding a way to bottle up Cam.

Thomas Davis' quick recovery from surgery to repair his broken right forearm should give the Panthers' defense an emotional boost, while Jared Allen (foot) could also return after missing the NFC championship game. The Broncos are a little more banged up, with safeties T.J. Ward (ankle) and Darian Stewart (knee) both listed as questionable in addition to some other minor bumps and bruises on their defense, but like Carolina it'll be all hands on deck for this one.

The El Nino-fueled storms that have been hitting California lately won't be an issue Sunday night, as the forecasts call for no rain, little wind and a temperature somewhere around 70 degrees at kickoff. Santa Clara has also stayed dry during this week's practices, so field conditions shouldn't be a problem, either.

Manning has played the Panthers four times in his career with middling results and a 2-2 record. His 59.6 percent completion rate is his second-lowest against any opponent (the lowest? His three games against the Colts. There's your bar bet trivia question for the weekend) and his 5:3 TD:INT ratio isn't much, but he does still have a decent 7.9 YPA. Newton's only played the Broncos once, a 36-14 loss in 2012, which doesn't tell us much. On the skill player side, Demaryius Thomas racked up 135 receiving yards in his one start against Carolina, while Greg Olsen has two TDs in two games against Denver.

Predictions: Stewart gets held to 60 rushing yards, but Newton sets a Super Bowl record for a quarterback with 70 rushing yards and a score. He also throws for 220 yards and two touchdowns to Olsen and Devin Funchess. C.J. Anderson, who rushed for exactly 72 yards in each of the Broncos' first two playoff games, bangs out 60 yards, while Manning throws for 200 yards and TDs to Emmanuel Sanders and Cody Latimer. Newton takes home the MVP, and Peyton rides off into the sunset without a second ring. Panthers, 24-20

Regular season record: 157-99, 137-111-8 ATS
Postseason record: 6-4, 3-6-1 ATS