Super Bowl 50 — 2015 Season

Result

Super Bowl MVP

Von Miller, LB, Denver Broncos

Starting lineups

Starting offense

Starting defense

Note: Both teams used 2-TE personnel groupings (Denver: Daniels + Davis; Carolina: Olsen + Dickson) rather than a traditional 1-TE/3-WR front — reported as run.

Box score

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Game context

Super Bowl 50 — the league broke from its usual Roman-numeral convention for this milestone anniversary game, branding it "Super Bowl 50" rather than "Super Bowl L" — pitted Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos, in what would prove to be the final game of his career, against Cam Newton's top-seeded Carolina Panthers, who arrived off a 17-1 season and Newton's MVP-winning campaign. The story of the game was Denver's defense, one of the most dominant units of the decade, rather than either star quarterback's arm. Manning, at 39 and playing through a foot injury that had cost him much of the regular season, was pedestrian by his own standards — 13 of 23 for 141 yards, an interception, and no touchdowns — but Denver did not need him to be spectacular. Linebacker Von Miller was the game's dominant force. He strip-sacked Newton in the first quarter, and Malik Jackson recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown, staking Denver to an early 10-0 lead. Denver's front seven harassed Newton throughout, sacking him seven times (tying the Super Bowl record) and forcing four turnovers overall, while Carolina's own defense also got after Manning with five sacks of its own, making for a game defined by relentless pressure on both sides rather than offensive rhythm. Miller struck again late in the fourth quarter, stripping Newton a second time; in a moment that drew heavy criticism afterward, Newton hesitated rather than diving on his own fumble, and safety T.J. Ward recovered, setting up the touchdown that put the game away. C.J. Anderson's 90-yard rushing effort, capped by a short touchdown, and Emmanuel Sanders's 83 receiving yards rounded out Denver's modest offensive production in a 24-10 win. Von Miller, with 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and six tackles, was a near-unanimous choice for Super Bowl MVP, one of relatively few defensive players to win the award outright on the strength of pass-rush dominance. For Peyton Manning, the win delivered his second championship (with a second different franchise, after Super Bowl XLI with Indianapolis) and made him, at 39, the oldest starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl; he announced his retirement that offseason, closing an 18-year Hall of Fame career on a championship note despite an underwhelming final statistical season. For Newton and Carolina, the loss — and Newton's terse, visibly frustrated postgame press conference, in which he walked out early — became a lasting storyline of its own, with the Panthers never returning to the Super Bowl in the years since. Played before 71,088 fans at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, the milestone 50th Super Bowl is remembered chiefly as a showcase for Denver's historically stout "No Fly Zone" defense and as the valedictory chapter of Manning's career.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Super Bowl 50
• Pro-Football-Reference: Super Bowl 50 box score