Feb. 7 brought on the 50th Super Bowl where the Carolina Panthers took on the Denver Broncos at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara CA. In the end, the Denver Broncos took home the trophy with a score of 24-10.

In the regular season, the Broncos had the number one defense in the NFL and the Panthers had the number one offense. Having these titles led to an intriguing Super Bowl game.

The Broncos got on the board after their first drive which set up Brandon McManus for a field goal. McManus continued his trend of making field goals in the playoffs by bringing his total to eight made field goals out of eight attempted field goals.

A major point in the game was when the officials called an attempted catch by the Panthers Jerricho Cotchery incomplete. Their coach, Ron Rivera, challenged the call on the field, but he lost the challenge due to the NFL’s extremely convoluted rules regarding what is and isn’t a catch.

Shortly after, the Broncos’ defensive line got to Panther’s quarterback Cam Newton, and Broncos’ linebacker Von Miller hit him in the backfield, causing a fumble which the Broncos recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. The extra point made expanded the Broncos’ lead to 10-0.

Despite the Broncos’ defensive pressure, the Panthers responded early on in the second quarter when Jonathan Stewart hurdled the line into the endzone. After the extra point, Carolina saw the Broncos’ lead shrink to just three points. However, shortly after the Panthers’ touchdown, the Broncos responded with another field goal to bring the score to 13-7 at halftime.

After halftime, the Panthers had one of their most dangerous drives as they drove down the field with relative ease. This drive, however, was halted by defensive stand by the Broncos which forced a 44 yard field goal attempt by the Panthers. Panthers’ Graham Gano botched the field goal attempt, however, as he bounced it off the left upright wasting an opportunity and giving the Broncos prime field position.

As the game winded down, the players didn’t. The Broncos continue to go strong by making another field goal getting the score to 16 to seven. The Broncos increased the gap in the score, securing their victory.

Then Gano makes his comeback with a 39 yard field goal. This would turn out to be the last scoring chance for the Panthers in this Super Bowl. Although this closed the gap slightly, the Broncos refused to take their foot off of the gas and did not allow the Panthers another opportunity en route to the Broncos third Super Bowl victory in their franchise’s history.