Panthers' supporting cast gives Cam Newton plenty of help on way to Super Bowl 50
CHARLOTTE — The Carolina Panthers caused havoc with their diverse run game, cashed in downfield when the rush didn’t get home and never let the Arizona Cardinals’ high-octane passing game get revved up.
Yes, the NFC Championship Game was like pretty much any other week this season for the Panthers, whose 49-15 rout Sunday night means they’ll need just one more of these to take home the franchise’s first championship.
The Panthers — winners in 17 of 18 games this season — will be favored in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7 against the Denver Broncos, and not just because they have probable NFL MVP Cam Newton, though that’s certainly where everything starts.
Newton is a quarterback unlike any the NFL has seen, making plays none other can make and, in turn, creating playmaking opportunities for others in an offense designed around his unique skill set.
His stiff-arm to convert a third down, followed by a somersaulting 12-yard touchdown on another designed run to make it a 27-point lead late in the third quarter figures to be one of Sunday’s enduring highlights. He finished 19-of-28 passing for 335 yards and two TDs with an interception, plus 47 yards and two more scores on 10 rushes.
But Newton had plenty of help — including an excellent effort from a Carolina defense that seemed to have Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer rattled from the start. And unlike in last week’s divisional playoff win over the Seattle Seahawks, the Panthers never really let the visitors make a game of it.
They strip-sacked Palmer twice in the second quarter and intercepted him four times, including Luke Kuechly’s pick-six with 5:11 to go, at a time the outcome was no longer in doubt.
Toss in Patrick Peterson’s lost muff of a punt at the only time the Cardinals seemed to be gathering some bit of momentum, having scored a touchdown and then gotten a stop in the second quarter, and this was an all-phase failure for a solid Arizona team.
Carolina’s biggest question heading into the Super Bowl will be health. Linebacker Thomas Davis (right forearm) and safety Roman Harper (eye) left Sunday’s game in the second quarter. Center Ryan Kalil (knee) and fullback Mike Tolbert (right knee) also missed time, though Kalil returned.
Given how this one ended, even a wounded Panthers team is awfully good.
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Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero
PHOTOS: NFC Championship Game