[Purple Haize]

Other than Denver fans and the two officials everyone knows it was a catch. No denying that it was a pivotal play. But there was plenty of time left to make up for it. Which is why the TO's missed throws and sacks were a lot more pivotal. It's not like Carolina was battling late and the call was a crucial play under 2 minutes.
Cam will be fine. He will have more opportunities. Just ask Marino....

[alabama24]

Cam will be fine. He will have more opportunities. Just ask Marino....

lol

I was thinking the same thing. On the one hand, he is fairly young. On the other hand, his "greatness" depends upon his ability to run and scramble. That may fade pretty quickly. I don't think we will be talking about Cam Newton in Super Bowl 60.

[alabama24]

That game was flat out awful

That's why the ratings were so high. lol

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... -50-862888

As for Cam Newton's temper tantrum... this is class:

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/russel ... superbowl/

[lynchburgwildcats]

Defense wins championships. This is almost always the case.

Defense won it for the Broncos last night because their defense is historically great, but the notion that defense wins championships is just an old myth created by coaches who needed to find a way to further stress the importance of defense to players. No one needs to convince players scoring more points is important.

Balance wins championships. Rarely does an offensively challenged team ever win a championship and any sport, and vice versa for defense.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fan ... l-anymore/
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/f ... mpionships
https://thecauldron.si.com/defense-does ... .hco2k2ms4
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015- ... s-bracket/ (point 6)

I was listening to Mike and Mike on the way into my school this morning and they mentioned a stat: This is the 12th time that the #1 rated defense has been in the Super Bowl. In those 12 matchups, only twice has the #1 rated defense in the NFL lost that game.

And that means 80% of the time the #1 ranked defense has not won the Super Bowl.

[lynchburgwildcats]

That game was flat out awful

That's why the ratings were so high. I chortle audibly.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... -50-862888

Ratings are always high for the Super Bowl. That doesn't mean it was good football.

But hey, it's the highest rated Super Bowl ever, I guess that means Super Bowl 50 is the greatest football game in history!

[ballcoach15]

There have been pre-season games more exciting. Last year's super bowl was a lot more exciting.

[Humble_Opinion]

It never touched the ground. They had great camera angles. No excess for not making the right call.

As he's going to the ground he has his right hand around the middle of the ball and it's pinned against his side. When he hits the ground the ball moves and rolls upwards slightly right after the head of the ball briefly hit the ground. Clear as day. When he begins to roll over on his back the ball is still moving against his body. In my opinion, that doesn't give a ref enough reason to show that he had complete control throughout the catch and that the ball did not play a role one way or the other. The front part of the ball touches the ground though.

[ballcoach15]

When receiver finally came to a complete halt/stop on the ground, he had possession of the ball.

I watched replay about 12-15 times, I have yet to see ball on the ground.

[Sly Fox]

But you also don't see proof that it never didn't touch the ground. The initial call on the field decided it. For the record, the team that played far supperior to their opponent won.

[Humble_Opinion]

When receiver finally came to a complete halt/stop on the ground, he had possession of the ball.

I watched replay about 12-15 times, I have yet to see ball on the ground.

When you go frame-by-frame on the replay angle that shows the ball, it's clear (to me) that the front nose of the ball hits the ground as he's rolling over and the ball clearly leaves his hand and moves up his arm. I don't think that's enough to say he had full-complete control of the ball, which goes to Sly's point.

[ATrain]

Every Carolina fan says it was a completion and they'll never be convinced otherwise...

That said, one play does not decide a game. Carolina had ample opportunities to overcome the call, and they didn't. The Broncos were the better team last night.

[soccer7]

Let's talk about the personal could called on Talib bailing out the Panthers! Brown was more at fault than Talib. That call kept that drive alive and they did nothing with it. It even helped them in field position when they had to punt. Let's just call that the equalizing call and agree the Broncos deserved to win that game.

[TH Spangler]

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/02/the-car ... of-a-catch

[lynchburgwildcats]

Catch or not, it wouldn't have changed the final outcome of the game. But it does hammer home the point that the NFL has to address this offseason the fact that no one knows what a freaking catch is anymore.

[RubberMallet]

That play turned the game. Regardless of when it happened.

it did. it was a catch. if not than they should just say "we don't know what a catch is. its going to be a complete crapshoot from now on". an awful call that you have to justify ridiculously to make it stick. the ensuing td was at least a 7pt swing. it was early in the game but with how completely inept peyton was, a punt on that set of downs likely results in a denver punt as well. if the panthers would of went on to score or even score later it would of been 7-6 with the panthers in the lead. we say in the pats game thats a huge difference. but obviously if they don't get that turnover it probably completely makes the game different so really knows what happens. . the offsides on the FG was ridiculous. if peyton had been pushed down at the end of the game like that a flag would of been thrown (wouldn't of mattered at that point). There were other smaller transgressions on the refs for the panthers but the officiating was awful.

if the panthers would of had the lead they would of changed their gameplan and just kept punting to turd performance peyton.

but even with seemingly everything against them, they still played like crap. finally exposed was that cam really actually doesn't have any good wr's besides his TE. I also thought he should of ran more. Den didn't run a spy all that much. he was usually blitzing. so it was wierd he didn't do more.

[ballcoach15]

That play resulted in a probable 14 point swing.

[flamesfilmguy]

The catch rule is really not that hard to understand. the official made the correct call. nose of the ball touched the ground and like many have said even if it hadn't there is no video evidence to overturn. What I am hearing is a carolina fans who can't understand that they got beat by a superior defense. and a team who knew its strength and weaknesses and played to their strengths. trust me, as an atlanta fan I know what it feels like to lose to the broncos in the superbowl. it sucks. you'll be back. at least it won't be that hard to win the NFC south again with Atlanta, NO and Tampa being terrible. you are welcome.

[olldflame]

That play resulted in a probable 14 point swing.

Horse hockey. None of us know what would have happened if they had overturned that call. Denver played an amazing game on D, and one completed pass would not have changed that. The replay was.not conclusive, so the call on the field stood

[BJWilliams]

I agree that Denver played a great game on D. Like I said before, you go with what got you there...but you can extrapolate a few possible outcomes. If that call is overturned, Carolina gets a first down. That keeps the drive alive and maybe they do eventually score a TD, but more than likely you get a field goal. Denver offense continues to struggle, Carolina ties the game on their TD by Stewart and its a whole new ballgame at that point...

[olldflame]

I agree that Denver played a great game on D. Like I said before, you go with what got you there...but you can extrapolate a few possible outcomes. If that call is overturned, Carolina gets a first down. That keeps the drive alive and maybe they do eventually score a TD, but more than likely you get a field goal. Denver offense continues to struggle, Carolina ties the game on their TD by Stewart and its a whole new ballgame at that point...

That is all nothing more than wild speculation.

[flamehunter]

If the kicker hits that field goal it could have been a whole new ballgame. If Cam doesn't fumble twice, it's a whole new ball game. If...

[thepostman]

It is beyond stupid to say that one call changed the entire game. The Broncos tried to hand the Panthers a touchdown getting dumb personal fouls but they still couldn't execute. The better overall team won the game. End of story.

[RubberMallet]

the reality is that any play outcome "changes" the entire game. future decisions are always made based off of past results.

[BJWilliams]

I agree that it is speculation olldflame, Im just offering my perspective on it. If they kept that first down, maybe they punt later in the possession, maybe they still turn the ball over...there are probably infinite scenarios that could have played out if the call had turned out differently

[From the class of 09]

The sour grapes on here are rediculous. How are you all going to get on some official over a questionable call (the catch/not a catch thing isn't a new controversy in the NFL) but not even mention Cam's lack of effort to recover his 2nd strip/fumble of the day.

You all got worked by best defense in the league and no one knew how to handle it. That said get Cam just a little help and I wouldn't want to face him in his next trip.