Every February, everyone becomes a football fan. Football is, without a doubt, America’s most popular sport and the Super Bowl is the embodiment of that. Year by year, it's one of the most watched programs on television. Here are the best and worst of Super Bowl 50 from a person who does knows just enough about football to fake it.
Worst: Running out of the tunnel is so underwhelming
I’m a big WWE fan so what I’m used to is pageantry. WrestleMania was in Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco in April of last year. That felt like an event with fireworks and exciting packages to start and that was a fake sport (predetermined to all my wrestling fans out there). Here, the Panthers and Broncos just run out to some limp “Generic Sports Track 35” and some sparklers. Even the coin toss is literally a coin toss with the referee narrating over a mic. This is the 50th Super Bowl. It's 2016. There must be some way to jazz it up. Maybe have Cirque Du Soleil perform an acrobatic coin toss? I don’t know. I'm just spit balling here. What I'm basically saying is that every sport should be more like WWE. If nothing else, we wouldn't have as many concussions.
Worst: Two states still have the Confederate flag on it
During "America the Beautiful," every state’s flag was represented, and I noticed that two, Georgia and Mississippi, still had the Confederate flag still. Not to get into racial politics but it is 2016, and I think there should be an end to this fetishization of the Antebellum South.
Worst: CBS has no shows that anybody under the age of 55 is interested in
I don’t know any student who watches “Blue Bloods” or “Hawaii Five-O,” but my 70-year-old Uncle Joe has tried very hard to convince me.
Worst: Commercials after 40 seconds
After each kickoff is done, it goes straight to commercials. I understand there's a quota of commercials the NFL has to hit, but it’s ridiculous to get into the action just for another series of commercials to be run.
Best: Broncos came ready to play
The Broncos started this game off hot--scoring a quick field goal off their first drive and quickly stopping the Panthers on defense. The Panthers were the favorites coming into the Super Bowl, but momentum quickly switched on the Broncos side.
On the Panthers' first drive, Cam Newton passed the ball to midfield to Jerricho Cotchery, which was ruled an incomplete pass because it is believed the tip of the ball hit the field while the wide receiver never had full control over the ball. The challenge was instituted as a way to prevent any gaffes on the referees’ part, which is especially important with how much happens at any given play on the football field. The announcers, Jim Nantz and Phil Simms, saw the replay and thought it should have been ruled a catch. Unfortunately for the Panthers, it was still ruled incomplete and a major blow to their momentum, putting them in a precarious situation, which then led to a forced fumble two plays later that led to a touchdown.
Best: Panthers 1st drive of the 2nd quarter
After a tough first quarter for the Panthers’ offense, that included a forced fumble and a missed field goal, Cam Newton came out of the second quarter knowing that he couldn’t trust his wide receivers to get free from the aggressive Broncos defensive backs and safeties. He started the first two plays running for first downs. Later he was able to hit Cory Brown with a pass for a large gain, only to be brought down by an aggressive facemask. The drive ended with a beautiful jump by running back, Jonathan Stewart, over the Broncos wall of a defense.
Worst: Aqib Talib’s many flags
In the first half he had two personal foul including pulling down Cory Brown by his face mask, which was unnecessary and flat out dangerous. Thankfully, the Broncos defense was able to make up for his mistakes.
Worst: The rest of the Panthers’ drives for the rest of the game
The Panthers offense could not solve the Broncos offense. Cam Newton was constantly under pressure, having to scramble. His throws early only on were too high for his receivers, a good indication that he was rushing. Jonathan Stewart was only to muster up a meager 29 yards on 12 carries. Every time a punt kicked towards the Panthers, the defense just swarms the Panthers’ punt returner. It was awful to watch.
Best: Broncos Defense
On the other hand, the Broncos’ defense was a thing of beauty. There is constantly a debate in sports about whether or not a good defense could beat a good offense. What Super Bowl 50 showed was that a great defense can definitely beat a good offense. I don’t watch much football, but I do know that Cam Newton is a really good quarterback. Yesterday he looked absolutely awful. This is the same offense that had never trailed in the post season this season. This is the same offense that was the highest scoring in the league last year. And the Broncos made them look like a Pop Warner team. The defense won the Broncos the game.
Best: Technology and Cameras
Technology has really come a long way when it comes to capturing sports. Throughout the night, the CBS broadcast used something called Eyevision 360, which shows a single frame of football from all different angles. I don’t know how you can watch sports any other way.
Worst/Best: Coldplay’s diminishing returns in popularity/Bruno Mars and Beyoncé are way more charismatic than Chris Martin
Coldplay headlined the Super Bowl halftime and show and my only question is, really? They started off with a performance of "Viva La Vida" and as they moved onto the each song of their set –– a progression from their last three albums –– the songs became less and less recognizable. I don’t know how much of a cultural caché Coldplay is anymore.
On the other hand, once Coldplay stopped putting me to sleep, Mark Ronson appeared for the massively overplayed "Uptown Funk." But, Bruno Mars and his crew came in, evoking Morris Day and the Time, and, as always, gave it their all. They're pure entertainers. Then Beyoncé appeared, almost slipped, yet still managed to be fierce –– as always. Here are two of the most charismatic pop performers today doing what they do best and Chris Martin being a wet towel.
When Coldplay began playing again, "Fix You," for whatever reason, the NFL knew enough to not show the band and just played random clips of better Super Bowl performances.
Worst: Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning is turning 40 this year. You should not be playing professional football at 40, and Manning is showing his age. It seems like his arm was put together by duct tape and silly putty. Manning threw one interception, had six sacks and only completed 13 of 23 for 141 yards. What is even more baffling is that these stats are not as bad as he looked. Peyton will probably retire after this season, and he should after how he looked in this game.
Best: Broncos kicker, Brandon McManus
To make up for Manning’s inability to get the ball to the end zone, Brandon McManus the kicker was able to make three field goals with ease. I normally don’t see much swagger with NFL kickers, but he knew what he was there to do and did it like he was breathing.
Best: Broncos Special Teams
Let’s give credit to the rest of the Broncos special teams. Broncos punter, Britton Colquitt, who had to work often thanks to Peyton Manning, placed the ball brilliantly in a way that the Panthers’ punt returner biggest gain was two yards. The Broncos very own punt returner, Jordan Norwood was able to exploit a gaffe by the Panthers for a 61-yard return which led to a field goal.
Worst: Football is too long when you know who is going to win
At some point in the third quarter, there was no way the Panthers was going to win the game. The defense is too strong and the morale of the Panthers was six feet under. At that point, the Super Bowl was a bore to watch. The Broncos had such great defense that Peyton Manning had to trot his old body back out to the field, which was not fun. Soon, the game went back and forth between teams as the defense on both sides just took over the game. I guess this means that offense is more fun to watch than defense.
The final score was 24 – 10 with the Broncos winning, and there really should be a way to just end the game. By the last minute, confetti were already coming down from the sky, and Broncos coach, Gary Kubiak, already got his Gatorade shower. It seems awful seeing the Panthers go through the motions in order to end the game. Just let these players leave.
Best: Defense as MVP, OK ’ll take Von Miller as MVP
Unfortunately, MVP could only be given to one player and not a whole unit because this game belonged to the Broncos defense. That said Von Miller, the outside linebacker, deserved all the accolades. I don’t know much about the intricacies of football, but Miller passed the seeing eye test. I can tell what he was doing was disrupting the offense. I can see how fast he is on every snap. He changed the game.
Worst: Peyton Manning Post Game endorsement deals
While celebrating the win, Peyton Manning is shown shaking hands with the Papa John guy in celebrating of his recent endorsement deal. Then during Peyton Manning’s post game celebration speech, he dropped the most blatant attempt of product placement I have ever seen. He said in response to what he is going to do for the rest of his night, “I’m going to go home, see my wife and children, have a beer –– Budweiser.” I was mystified by this. Well I guess if he is going to retire, he should find a way to make money.
Overall the Super Bowl was a game of diminishing returns. By the second half of the game, I found my interest waning as the results became more and more evident. If I didn’t have to write this report, I probably would have turned it off after the first half of the third quarter. But, football’s now America’s game.
