CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Superman is bringing his cape and his pen to Super Bowl 50. He’s leaving behind his camera.
“Yeah, we are going to the Super Bowl. We are not going just to take pictures,” Cam Newton said Sunday after leading the Carolina Panthers into the big game with a 49-15 rout of Arizona for the NFC championship. “We are trying to finish this thing off.”
That would be against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in two weeks.
“Playing the sheriff,” Newton said of Manning. “We’re going to live in the moment right now. We’re going to be excited.”
Newton threw for two touchdowns and ran for two others, and Carolina’s big-play defense stifled Arizona’s top-ranked offense. The 49 points were the most for an NFC title game winner.
The NFL’s new top man at quarterback — Newton is an All-Pro this season — goes against fivetime MVP Manning. Carolina is favored by four points.
It will be Newton’s first trip to the Super Bowl and the second for the Panthers (17-1), who lost to New England 12 years ago. Denver, of course, has made a habit of going to Super Bowls, reaching it for a record-tying eighth time.
Carolina’s D was destructive. It picked off Carson Palmer four times, forced two fumbles by him, and never let up the assault.
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