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CAROLINA PANTHERS
Cam Newton

Turnovers and miscues doom Panthers in Super Bowl defeat

Lorenzo Reyes
USA TODAY
Broncos outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware grabs a fumble ahead of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton during the fourth quarter.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – After it was all over, Panthers defensive end Ryan Delaire walked over to the stalls of Jerricho Cotchery and Ted Ginn Jr. to console them. He was there to offer support.

He shook their hands, brought them in and whispered words of encouragement.

The Panthers let one slip through their fingers. Literally.

Dropped passes, two fumbles, a pushed 44-yard field goal that caromed off the upright, penalties – when Carolina looks back on the reasons why it lost Super Bowl 50, 24-10, the team’s mistakes will keep them pondering on the long flight home back to Charlotte.

"We kind of beat ourselves in all phases of the game. False starts. Penalties. Special teams plays," said Panthers wide receiver Devin Funchess. "It was uncharacteristic for us."

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The mistakes started early, but it was the last one that punctuated the end of Carolina’s dream season – one that saw the team rip off victories in 17 of their first 18 games, saw quarterback Cam Newton win the league’s most valuable player and offensive player of the year award.

The stage was set for Newton to shine, for him to confirm his position among the NFL’s top quarterbacks.

Carolina, down six points, had the ball with 4:28 to play, 76 yards away from a championship.

But Broncos defensive end Von Miller, who had terrorized Carolina’s normally-formidable offensive line all game long added to his highlight reel with a strip of Newton that gave the Broncos the ball.

Five plays later, Denver running back C.J. Anderson punched the ball into the end zone, effectively ending the game.

Miller was an issue Carolina simply didn’t have an answer for.

Mid-way through the first quarter, with the ball pinned deep in Carolina territory, Newton took the shotgun snap before Miller surged off the line, popped Panthers right tackle Mike Remmers in the chest with his hands, and was set to take Newton down for the sack.

But in the split second before Miller made contact, he stripped the ball away, allowing defensive end Malik Jackson to recover the ball in the end zone for the touchdown.

"We fumbled the ball when we really haven't fumbled the ball," said coach Ron Rivera.

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Denver led 10-0, which meant that if the Panthers were going to come back to win it, they would match the largest come-from-behind victory in Super Bowl history.

The miscues didn’t stop once the second half rolled around, either.

Carolina’s offense simply couldn’t break out of its funk until Newton completed two strikes in the team’s first drive that put the Panthers on the fringe on a go-ahead score. On second and 11 from the Denver 26-yard line, Newton floated a perfectly-placed pass into the hands of Cotchery, who appeared poised to cradle it in just a few yards shy of the end zone.

Except Cotchery let the ball slide out of his grasp and tumble to the turf.

"Bringing in, I thought I had two hands on it, but (Von Miller) raked one of my hands away from it and I lost it," Cotchery said. "I'm going to be replaying that the rest of my life, man."

Two plays later, place kicker Graham Gano pushed a 44-yard attempt right.

Another missed opportunity, but it wasn’t even the worst one of the quarter.

It was trumped by Ginn letting one bounce off his hands for an interception on the very next series.

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Now, this leaves the Panthers searching for answers.

How did they – seemingly the best outfit in the league and one that punished its two postseason opponents before it ran into Denver – fail to finish on the biggest stage it reached?

The roster is young. It hadn’t been here before. Could the magnitude of the Super Bowl have claimed another upstart?

It’s too early to tell. Critics may point at Carolina’s brash confidence as a lack of focus, but Denver’s defense finished the season with historic production after a dominant AFC Championship Game that saw the defensive line record 17 hits on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

"We knew those guys coming in were the best we have seen," said Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula. "We were just off on some things."

The Panthers return many of their key players. They’re still developing and growing. They can reach this stage again.

"It's a process. We will learn from this," said defensive end Kony Ealy.

But as they hover above the country on their flight, undoubtedly, they’ll regret the drops, the flags, the blown blocks – the mistakes that kept them from history.

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