The Broncos' defense shut down Cam Newton and the Panthers -- completely. They got to play the role of Kryptonite to Newton's Superman, and Denver's defensive players had a field day mocking Newton following Super Bowl 50.
Broncos defenders went all-in mocking Carolina after winning the Super Bowl
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
“There ain’t no Easter Bunny, there ain’t no Santa Claus, there ain’t no Superman,”
The Denver defense clearly rattled Newton and the Panthers offense, sacking the Carolina QB seven times and forcing numerous turnovers. Chris Harris Jr. thinks it was a testament to the lack of talent the Panthers have faced this year, which could have been a product of not knowing what division Carolina plays in.
“He just hasn’t faced nobody,” cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said. “We looked at their schedule. They played the AFC South. They played the, what conference are they in? I don’t know what division they’re in. They haven’t played nobody man,” Harris continued. “So you look at the schedule and we’re the first dogs they’ve played.”
"We don't have to say nothing. We let them do all the talking. We let our pads talk. We talk with our helmets and our shoulder pads. They could do all the media talking, you know what I'm talking about? We're not about that flashy stuff. We're about that grind, putting in that work. Grind it. Work. That's how you get the ‘ship," safety T.J. Ward said. "They want to be famous. We want to be champions. They want to be rappers and backup dancers. We want to play football."
A lot of the Broncos’ ire was directed at Newton. Any time you contain the NFL’s MVP in the biggest game of the year there’s plenty of reason to celebrate, but defenders seemed to take the game more personally than most.
“That’s the way he is. Playing for himself,” Trevathan said.
“He didn’t want it,” Talib added.
“Did you guys see him dance today? He [saw] us dance,” Harris said.
The Panthers face the Broncos in the 2016 regular season. That is going to be a very interesting game.
