Super Bowl Fifty

For the fiftieth time this Sunday at 4:30pm there will be a Super Bowl of football played in at the San Francisco 49ers stadium in San Francisco.

CBS is broadcasting the game and two veteran commentators, Jim Nance and Phil Simms will be calling the game. Only thing I know about them is that Nance does a better job on gold and Simms has started to drink Bigelow Green Tea and feels like a million dollars now.

The two teams playing are the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers. It looks to be a dual of the Bronco defense vs. the ability of Carolina quarterback Cam Newton to throw and run with the football.

Last weekend when the Broncos played the Patriots it was a close game in which the Patriots could have won in the last few minutes even though their quarterback Tom Brady seemed to spend most of the second half on the ground. Denver won 20 to 18.

Meanwhile in Charlotte, North Carolina the Panthers played the Arizona Cardinals and it was a blowout with Carolina winning 49 to 15.

There should be much interest in Montana as the Broncos have many Montana fans. Draw a straight line from Seattle to the Great Lakes and south to Denver and those football teams around that line like the Sea Hawks, the Packers and the Vikings along with the Broncos are all intensely popular around Montana.

Another tidbit of Sunday’s game is that it might just be the Swan Song of Peyton Manning. At 39 he is the oldest quarterback playing the game and sat out a lot of the year with various foot injuries. The Broncos used Kalispell native Brock Osweiler as their main quarterback or several games. This being his first time in the fray, he didn’t look all that bad. He will look better next year. Manning supposedly was overheard telling Bill Belichick, the Patriots coach, after the Patriot game that this was going to be his (Manning’s) last rodeo.

Regarding Peyton Manning, he has not done well in post season play. I think he has only won one Super Bowl in his career and seems desperate for another win. When watching him play against the Patriots his passes were not on like they had been and he kept the score low by his lack of ability to throw the football like he used to.

Still, with the great Bronco defense, a low score was enough to get the job done. Why, on one play, fans saw Manning rumble down the field himself and get a first down, something people had never seen before out of Peyton Manning.

So, can he beat Cam Newton and the Panthers? Definitely he cannot but the question should be can the Panthers and Cam Newton beat that intense Bronco defense?

No answers to that question here. Not being a Manning fan I will just be glad if I don’t have to hear him croak out “Omaha, Omaha” and do that silly little dance.

I was sad that Manning and the Broncos beat the Patriots since I am a Patriot fan. But when I was crying in my beer one night, a friend said that he was an Indianapolis fan and Manning has never beaten Indianapolis since he left them to play for Denver.

True, I thought but as I thought about it more, here is what I really decided. If Peyton Manning is really going to retire, he should win this game and at least be able to claim two Super Bowls which is a minimum of Super Bowls for a super quarterback to win. However, if, as one story goes, he is going to be playing his last one or two years as the star quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, his home town. Then I hope that Newton and his Panthers cream the Bronco’s clock well!

Having a Super Bowl Party? Look at Bear Paw Meanderings this week for a very simple crab and macaroni and cheese hot dish. This is really simple and will get you rave notices!

So what you really want to know is who is going to win the game. Right? Well, I am the wrong person to ask. Let me just say this about that. My friends who seem to think they know more about NFL football than I do say that Newton and the Panthers should have no problem taking down the Broncos. However, I thought that too before the Broncos beat Pittsburgh and New England. I am mum about this one!

Whatever your flavor of NFL team, I hope that Super Bowl Fifty will give something for everyone and be exciting, tense and close offering a really big bang to a good NFL season.