Carolina's up 49-15. Wow. Aikman and Buck just said Carolina broke the record for points in an NFC Championship Game.

Haven't seen any AZ games, but Carson Palmer is garbage. How did they get this far?

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Haven't seen any AZ games, but Carson Palmer is garbage. How did they get this far?

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Because Palmer wasn't garbage and AZ was the most all around team in the NFL.

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Haven't seen any AZ games, but Carson Palmer is garbage. How did they get this far?

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To be fair, Palmer actually played pretty well this season. However, tonight he's looking like he did when he was with the Bengals. The Carolina pass rush has really rattled him.

Panthers look scary good.

Ha, I think Cam might disagree.

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Panthers look scary good.

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The sips would look scary good if you gave them seven turnovers.

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Panthers look scary good.

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Yes they do. I love that Von Miller and Coach Kubiak will be participating in Super Bowl 50, but Carolina looks ridiculously good. Their defense, led by LB Luke Kuechly, is rock solid and Cam Newton is playing out of his mind right now.

The NFC was bad this year. I think it's funny that some are already writing off the Broncos. The panthers have looked good but they also haven't faced as good of a D as the Broncos. Von and Demarcus along with the rest of the D will shut down Cam. Peyton will do enough to win.

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The NFC was bad this year. I think it's funny that some are already writing off the Broncos. The panthers have looked good but they also haven't faced as good of a D as the Broncos. Von and Demarcus along with the rest of the D will shut down Cam. Peyton will do enough to win.

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I'm not ready to write off Denver. They're a great team with superb personnel and coaching. However, Newton is this year's MVP and, including today's result, Carolina's record this season is 17-1. That's outstanding and very unusual in the NFL.

I'm really looking forward to this match-up.

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The NFC was bad this year. I think it's funny that some are already writing off the Broncos. The panthers have looked good but they also haven't faced as good of a D as the Broncos. Von and Demarcus along with the rest of the D will shut down Cam. Peyton will do enough to win.

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Cam will go off against Denver. It will be fun to watch. Carolina wins by 2 touchdowns.

Part of the reason Miller and Ware had such big days is that the secondary blanketed the Patriot receivers, forcing Brady to hold onto the ball longer. That 2.1 seconds everyone talked about all week matters not if the receivers aren't open.
Carolina got seven turnovers. Seven. Denver may have some turnovers, but not seven.
The masses aren't going to think this game will be a huge blowout, and as usual, the masses will be wrong.

Arizona did everything possible to assist in the slaughter of Arizona.

Seattle at the end of the year was a very good team. Probably close to last years. Carilina made them look stupid for a half and really came of the accelerator to early. They didn't make that mistake this week.

Von will get his, but Manning may get carted off in that game.

Panthers played well but don't under estimate the effect playing in the Super Bowl for the first time will have on some of the Panthers... I think Denver is hungry and will not play like they did against Seattle a couple years ago.. I see this being a classic.. Both teams are playing at a high level. As a football fan, we have been spoiled this year in championship games (Bama and Clemson was a classic) can't wait to see the game!

Broncos win 31-30.

Looking forward to seeing Von Miller in Super Bowl 50, would be great for recruiting and the A&M brand and couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

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Panthers played well but don't under estimate the effect playing in the Super Bowl for the first time will have on some of the Panthers... I think Denver is hungry and will not play like they did against Seattle a couple years ago.. I see this being a classic.. Both teams are playing at a high level. As a football fan, we have been spoiled this year in championship games (Bama and Clemson was a classic) can't wait to see the game!

Broncos win 31-30.

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Will be first Super Bowl for lots of Denver as well.

If it comes down to QB play, Carolina wins.

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Panthers played well but don't under estimate the effect playing in the Super Bowl for the first time will have on some of the Panthers... I think Denver is hungry and will not play like they did against Seattle a couple years ago.. I see this being a classic.. Both teams are playing at a high level. As a football fan, we have been spoiled this year in championship games (Bama and Clemson was a classic) can't wait to see the game!

Broncos win 31-30.

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Are you a betting man?

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Panthers played well but don't under estimate the effect playing in the Super Bowl for the first time will have on some of the Panthers... I think Denver is hungry and will not play like they did against Seattle a couple years ago.. I see this being a classic.. Both teams are playing at a high level. As a football fan, we have been spoiled this year in championship games (Bama and Clemson was a classic) can't wait to see the game!

Broncos win 31-30.

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CAR will smash denver.

Carson Palmer went "Brian Hoyer" in that game responsible for six (6) turnovers.

He's qualified to be a Texan QB for sure!

just to inject some perspective:

The Panthers, in the regular season, faced teams with a combined record of 92-116, only four teams on their schedule had a winning record: Houston (9-7), Seattle (10-6), Green Bay (10-6) and Washington (9-7)

The Broncos, in the regular season, faced teams with a combined record of 116-102, only six teams on their schedule had a winning record: Kansas City (11-5), Minnesota (11-5), Green Bay (10-6), New England (12-4), Pittsburgh (10-6) and Cincinnati (12-4).

The NFC had 9 teams with losing records, 6 teams with winning records and 1 team that was even.
The AFC had 7 teams with losing records, 7 with winning records and 2 teams that went even.
The AFC playoff teams had a record of 54-26 (does not include Denver at 12-4)
The NFC playoff teams had a record of 53-27 (does not include Carolina at 15-1)

Carolina offense ranks: 1st in points, 11th in total yrds, 24th passing yrds, 2nd rushing yrds
Denver Defense ranks: 4th in points, 1st in total yrds, 1st in passing yrds, 3rd in rushing yrds

Denver offense ranks: 19th in points, 16th in total yrds, 14th in passing yrds, 17th in rushing yrds
Carolina defense ranks: 6th in points, 6th in total yrds, 11th in passing yrds, 4th in rushing yrds

If the Broncos score 31, it will qualify as one of the biggest shocks I've ever seen in football. With Manning at QB, that offense has nothing going for it. I don't know what the score will be, but the Broncos scoring 31 seems pretty unlikely.

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With Manning at QB, that offense has nothing going for it

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nothing? you sure about that. Just cause Manning cant consistently sling the ball like he used to he can still read a defense better than just about anyone and play the "chess" game with them, getting them to reveal what they are doing or even make them change the coverage before the snap

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With Manning at QB, that offense has nothing going for it

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nothing? you sure about that. Just cause Manning cant consistently sling the ball like he used to he can still read a defense better than just about anyone and play the "chess" game with them, getting them to reveal what they are doing or even make them change the coverage before the snap

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The offense scored 10 points on short fields against the Patriots and 10 points otherwise. After halftime adjustments, they managed 3 points and were pretty much dominated by the defense. The Patriots' gameplan was to stop the run and force Manning to beat them. He didn't, but their defense was incredible.

With Manning in there, you need to stop the run and tackle the receivers when they catch it. You can live without fear of downfield routes and he certainly isn't running anywhere (though he did pick up one first down with his feet against the Patriots). Even when the gameplan was to force Manning to pass, he barely completed half of his passes for 176 yards (and was sacked a few times). The Pats have a decent defense, but not as good as Carolina.

Given how their defense played against a crippled Pats offense, if the Broncos had decent QB play, they would have run away with that game.

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Even when the gameplan was to force Manning to pass, he barely completed half of his passes for 176 yards

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I dont have the individual game stats but overall, the Broncos WR did not catch 237 passes in 606 attempts. I acknowledge that there are some misses from the QBs in there as well as some INTs but if you watched any of the last 2 games, the majority of incompletes were drops, that has nothing to do with the QB or Manning in particular.

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The Pats have a decent defense, but not as good as Carolina.

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I posted this in this thread:

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Carolina defense ranks: 6th in points, 6th in total yrds, 11th in passing yrds, 4th in rushing yrds

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Here is how NE's defense compares:

Patriots defense ranks: 10th in points (.5 yrd difference from Carolina), 9th in total yards (16.5 yrd difference from Carolina), 17th in passing yards (6.2 yrd difference from Carolina), 9th in rushing yards (10.4 yrd difference from Carolina)

Not as good as Carolina but in reality, statistically no different. they are 1 short pass or 1 decent run different per game.

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Given how their defense played against a crippled Pats offense

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How was the Pats offense crippled? They had their full compliment of WRs back and healthy along with Gronk. They did not play with a RB for most of the season so that is basically immaterial.

To say Manning brings nothing to the table when he plays is just ignorant. It was reported that when he came into the game against San Diego in week 17, when they were down 13-7, facing possible elimination and playing like crap, he came in and orchestrated a comeback win (27-20) by checking 50-55% of the plays called. I believe that is what he brings, not to mention his experience in Super Bowls, successful or not.

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The offense scored 10 points on short fields against the Patriots and 10 points otherwise. After halftime adjustments, they managed 3 points and were pretty much dominated by the defense.

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Forgot to address this, Watching Kubiak coached teams, (Broncos when OC, Texans and Broncos as HC), I think this has more to do with him than Manning and the offense. He is a "run first and then continue to run when it doesn't work" type coach with the hopes that it will wear down the defense by the fourth. I think if you look at the Denver offense last year or the year before compared to this year you will see the big difference is who is calling the plays and the offensive identity/philosophy and not so much the players

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Even when the gameplan was to force Manning to pass, he barely completed half of his passes for 176 yards

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I dont have the individual game stats but overall, the Broncos WR did not catch 237 passes in 606 attempts. I acknowledge that there are some misses from the QBs in there as well as some INTs but if you watched any of the last 2 games, the majority of incompletes were drops, that has nothing to do with the QB or Manning in particular.

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The Pats have a decent defense, but not as good as Carolina.

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I posted this in this thread:

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Carolina defense ranks: 6th in points, 6th in total yrds, 11th in passing yrds, 4th in rushing yrds

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Here is how NE's defense compares:

Patriots defense ranks: 10th in points (.5 yrd difference from Carolina), 9th in total yards (16.5 yrd difference from Carolina), 17th in passing yards (6.2 yrd difference from Carolina), 9th in rushing yards (10.4 yrd difference from Carolina)

Not as good as Carolina but in reality, statistically no different. they are 1 short pass or 1 decent run different per game.

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Given how their defense played against a crippled Pats offense

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How was the Pats offense crippled? They had their full compliment of WRs back and healthy along with Gronk. They did not play with a RB for most of the season so that is basically immaterial.

To say Manning brings nothing to the table when he plays is just ignorant. It was reported that when he came into the game against San Diego in week 17, when they were down 13-7, facing possible elimination and playing like crap, he came in and orchestrated a comeback win (27-20) by checking 50-55% of the plays called. I believe that is what he brings, not to mention his experience in Super Bowls, successful or not.

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No, the Patriots were not healthy. Not at all. They had 16 players listed as "questionable," including Edelman, Amendola, and Gronk, and it was obvious that all three labored through that game. That's not to mention that they were playing without their starting left tackle, the left tackle they had was playing with a sprained ankle, and they were rotating in a practice squad player at right tackle because their right tackle was playing left tackle. Also, they did have a running game before Lewis and Blount went down. This offense was decimated by injury. The o-line issues might have had less of an impact if Edelman and Amendola had really been healthy, but that wasn't really the case.

Manning did throw "some" INTs this year. 17 in 9 regular season games, to be exact. And no, the majority of the incompletions over the last few games were definitely not drops. There were a handful against the Steelers, and on 4 of the 5 you could see the ball almost flipping end over end (exaggeration for emphasis) out of Manning's hands. The receivers can catch those, but the QB has to take some of the blame when the passes are that ugly. I could be wrong, but I don't remember a single drop against the Patriots.

He did have a good half against a bad defense when they played San Diego. His intelligence has yielded very little in the way of results so far in the playoffs. I'm not suggesting they should put in Osweiler, but they beat the Patriots in spite of his lack of ability to push the defense back.

I guess we will just agree to disagree.

By the conference championship games everybody is "questionable" or "probable" so that is not really a good metric to judge against.

The previous week against KC, Edelman went 10 receptions for 100 yrds (1/6 of his total for the season, 61 for 692) and rushed 1 for 11 yrds; Gronk went 7 receptions for 83yrds. Amendola went 2 receptions for 18yrds. None of those sound like they came in or played "crippled" as you state. Maybe they looked "labored" because they were getting pushed around by a physical defense and getting frustrated by their lack of success.

You mention their Oline; most teams at this point have injuries there as well. Hell, the Broncos OLine was just as patchworked as the Pats with missing players and players in different positions so you could say they were not healthy either.

This "offense that was decimated by injury" put up 340yrds against a KC defense that was ranked 7th in the regular season and playing better than that coming into the postseason; nobody wanted to face the Chiefs in the playoffs due to how well they were playing