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Greg Cosell's Super Bowl Review: How Broncos D shut down Carolina

Von Miller, of course, played very well in Super Bowl 50.

The Denver Broncos’ defensive line, and in particular Malik Jackson, was dominant.

Denver’s cornerbacks were strong, as usual.

Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips had a complex, effective game plan that had Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton off his game.

And that was how the Broncos won a Super Bowl championship.

The Panthers’ offense was never in a rhythm in Super Bowl 50, thanks to a special performance by the Broncos. The Panthers' multiple run game was stopped. On read option plays, the Broncos forced Newton to hand the ball off, and relied on their run defense up front to control the point of attack. They did that. Jackson was a star in that area.

In the passing game, the Broncos showed a number of different coverages from the first quarter on, with many three-, four- and five-man rush concepts. With the Broncos doing such a good job mixing things up, Newton did not get a clear picture of the coverage on a number of snaps. The Broncos constantly changing with multiple coverage looks gave Newton problems, as did a constant pass rush. 

A lot of what the Broncos did well, schematically and execution-wise, converged on the signature play of the game: Miller’s strip sack of Newton in the first quarter.

The Broncos were in dime, and the Broncos played a quarters-quarters-half zone coverage, with quarters to the two-receiver side. The Panthers had six men protecting Newton. The Broncos did an excellent job showing man coverage blitz before the snap, with safety T.J. Ward and linebacker Danny Trevathan on the line of scrimmage. Trevathan’s alignment impacted right tackle Mike Remmers; it slowed his outside pass set against Miller. Miller beat him off the edge.

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The Panthers were a protection-first offense all year. They often kept two eligible receivers into protect, with a full slide from the offensive line one way and both players in the backfield protecting the other way. The Broncos simply beat it. 

On a third-and-8 in the first quarter, the Broncos had a man free blitz out of a dime package with six defensive backs. Safeties T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart both “green dog” blitzed — meaning they blitzed as soon as they saw the players they were responsible for in coverage stayed in to blitz. Stewart had Fozzy Whittaker man-to-man, but when Whittaker stayed in to block Trevathan’s blitz, Stewart green dog blitzed and came in unblocked. To blitz like this, you have to trust your man coverage, and the Broncos did.

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The Broncos’ pass rush was a constant factor in the game. The Panthers missed some big plays because Newton didn’t have time to get to them.

In the second quarter, the Panthers called a deep pass on first down. Ted Ginn ran a deep over route and was open for what would have been a touchdown. But an inside stunt by Sylvester Williams and Jackson forced Newton to move out of the pocket. Newton ran for 12 yards, but it should have been a 48-yard touchdown.

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Newton was out of sync physically and mentally; that was evident early in the game. He was inaccurate early on. Throughout the game his ball placement was not as precise as it needed to be, and he forced his receivers at times to make tough catches and most of the time they did not make them.

Here’s a good example, on a third-and-10 late in the second quarter. Corey Brown ran a deep dig and Newton missed him.

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The Panthers’ run game couldn’t sustain drives, mostly because the Panthers couldn’t block Jackson. On the first play of the third quarter, the Panthers ran a zone read inside zone play with tight end Greg Olsen as the lead blocker. Carolina tried to double team Jackson. Jackson split the double team and blew up the play. Jonathan Stewart was dropped for no gain. Jackson, who can become a free agent this offseason, made many plays like this.

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The Panthers still had a chance to win the game with less than five minutes remaining. And the Panthers dialed up a play that at very least could have gotten them a huge chunk of yards to get them into Broncos territory. But, yet again, Newton didn’t have time to get to it because of the pass rush.

Devin Funchess ran a sail route and was wide open. That is where Newton was going with the ball. Mike Tolbert was offset in the backfield, in position to chip Miller, but he didn’t do that. Miller beat Remmers to the outside and knocked the ball out of Newton’s hand just as he started his delivery. This is a really tough play for the Panthers. They got what they wanted, and couldn't get to it.

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The Broncos' defensive performance will go down in Super Bowl history. It was a great one, from the game plan down to the execution of it.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.