For the Denver Broncos, the game plan was simple.
All they had to do to win the Super Bowl 50 was to make league MVP Cam Newton even less of a threat than aging quarterback Peyton Manning.
The fierce pass rush of the Broncos, especially of linebacker Von Miller, held Newton to 10 points in Denver’s 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers Sunday night. Miller had 2½ sacks, forced two fumbles, and made six tackles to lead the Broncos’ victory.
Newton was on the move most of the night with Miller or Demarcus Ware chasing him.
“I’m so proud of my guys,” Miller said. “It’s been every last one of you guys in the locker room that’s gotten us to this moment right here.”
Miller became the third linebacker to win Super Bowl MVP honors. The other two are Dallas’ Chuck Howley, whose team lost the fifth Super Bowl, and Baltimore’s Ray Lewis, who won Super Bowl XXXV in a close vote.
In all, Denver had seven sacks in the game. Newton threw for 365 yards and ran for 45, but he got his team into the end zone only once. Denver’s defense scored the Broncos’ first touchdown and set up another.
Denver won 11 games by a touchdown or less this season because of that defense.
