Defense, not Newton, will win for Carolina
Carolina’s Kurt Coleman, center, is congratulated after intercepting a pass during the first half of the NFC championship against Arizona Cardinals in Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 24. Coleman led Carolina with seven interceptions and picked off two more passes in the NFC championship game.
Linebacker Luke Kuechly is the leader of a Carolina defense that led the NFL with 24 interceptions during the regular season.
During an interview last week with Steelers president Art Rooney II, he was asked about the state of the NFL.
It was a broad question, but Rooney gave a very specific answer.
“I think this Super Bowl is interesting in that you have two quarterbacks who are complete opposites in the way they approach the game,” Rooney said. “Whether Cam Newton represents the future of the way you’re going to see people play quarterback, there’s no question it’s changing. The colleges are not playing pro-style offenses anymore, so you may see more Cam Newtons, and that’s not a bad thing. Cam is an exciting player and as long as he can stay healthy doing what he does.”
Some look at today’s Super Bowl as the changing of the guard between Newton and Denver’s Peyton Manning. But we’ve actually seen this before. Last year’s Super Bowl pitted Seattle’s Russell Wilson, another quarterback with excellent scrambling ability, against a pure pocket passer in Tom Brady. Two years ago, it was Wilson against the quarterback who will lead his team against Newton and the Carolina Panthers today, Denver’s Peyton Manning. And in 2012, it was Baltimore’s Joe Flacco, a pure pocket passer, against scrambler Colin Kaepernick.
So today’s Super Bowl is just the latest chapter in the debate between scramblers and pocket passers.
It will be a debate that continues for at least a few more years – or at least that’s what the Steelers hope.
While he was never considered a scrambler, Ben Roethlisberger’s ability to move around in the pocket and make plays when things broke down was the stuff of legend. Now, at 33, the Steelers’ quarterback is more akin to that of his namesake, Big Ben – yes, the clock tower – than that earlier version of himself.
The Steelers believe they have three or four more years with Roethlisberger to make a run at the Super Bowl.
Today’s Super Bowl teams are more than just their quarterback. One could argue Denver secured its spot in the Super Bowl in spite of its quarterback play.
While Newton has had an outstanding season, it’s the defenses of Carolina and Denver that have gotten them this far. Denver led the NFL in total defense and Carolina was sixth. The two teams ranked fourth and sixth in scoring defense.
While Carolina did rank first in the NFL in scoring offense, bolstered by five defensive touchdowns, the Panthers were a run-of-the-mill 11th in total offense while Denver finished 16th.
It’s Carolina’s defense that will be the difference.
While Denver’s defense was the best in the league, Carolina’s pass rush, coupled with strong play in the secondary, helped the Panthers record an NFL-best 24 interceptions.
Carolina has carried that into the postseason, picking off six more passes in two games.
Considering Manning, who at 39 has very little arm strength remaining, threw 17 interceptions in 334 passes during the regular season, that doesn’t appear to be a good matchup.
Manning has played cleanly in the postseason with no interceptions in wins over the Steelers and New England Patriots, but neither has anything close to the defense he’ll face today.
A victory won’t necessarily be a coronation for Newton or mean running quarterbacks have overtaken pocket passers as the future of the NFL. After all, the pocket passers have won three of the previous four Super Bowls and despite winning a few years ago, Flacco is hardly a star.
But it will be scrambler vs. pocket passer.
Carolina is a 6-point favorite, and if the Panthers can force a Manning turnover or two, then they should cover that spread.
Take Carolina, 24-17
Championship Round: 0-2 ATS; 1-1 Straight up
Overall: 124-119-5 ATS; 156-92 Straight up
F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.