Yes, yes, we know Super Bowl 50 is long since over. The Bruins and the Celts are both playing well; the Sox are at Fenway South in Fort Myers, and John Farrell is back. And SB 50 was, well, really just another Super Bowl. Obviously, the Patriots’ absence was a downer around here, but No. 50 was unexciting no matter who played (at Seapoint, it was termed “lackluster”).
Except for Denver’s defense; please take note of that. We’ll find out next fall if dominant defense continues to be a key NFL factor.
Oddly enough, the Panthers dominated the offensive stats – total yards (+121), first downs (+11) and time of possession (+5:34). But they committed more turnovers – four to two by Denver. Super Bowl 50 was a game of mistakes, just as it has been ever since the first Super Bowl was held on Jan. 15, 1967.
Actually, neither offense showed up. Over half of the point total (19 out of 34) were scored by defense and special teams. Peyton Manning’s passing was directly involved in only two of Denver’s points, a two-point conversion – the Super Bowl’s only memorable offensive play. And quarterback Cam Newton himself turned out to be the Panthers’ leading rusher (six times for 45 yards), an indictment of Carolina’s sorry overall offense.
But Denver’s defense sparkled. The turn overs were defensive high points. Von Miller got his well-deserved Super Bowl MVP Award for bottling up Cam Newton. Is it possible that defensive football will resume its rightful place as a game-winner?
There’s no question that the NFL’s aerial show based upon forward passing is spectacular (when they’re caught), but one of these days, passes are going to start running into drones. Back to the future, NFL: run, block and tackle.
The second-most boring moment in Super Bowl 50 was the half-time show. It was entirely predictable, and as always, the words to the songs were mostly drowned out by the noise. And where did that male dance troupe in the floppy black rain gear come from? They looked like lobstermen in mourning.
The prize for the dullest moments of all goes collectively to the ads, every one of which hit new depths: crafted by idiots, for idiots. They were worse than the political advertisements in the New Hampshire primary.
Was any single one of the ads worth $500,000 for 15 seconds? Would you buy a used car from those advertisers?
