page_title: 2015–16 NFL playoffs
section_title: Super Bowl 50: Denver Broncos 24, Carolina Panthers 10
hierarchical_section_title: 2015–16 NFL playoffs / Super Bowl 50: Denver Broncos 24, Carolina Panthers 10
caption_attribution_description: English: Last Punt of Super Bowl 50
context_page_description: The National Football League playoffs for the 2015 season began on January 9, 2016. The postseason tournament concluded with Super Bowl 50, on February 7, when the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
  For this year only, the Super Bowl decided not to use a Roman numeral and instead used the standard numerals "50." According to Jaime Weston, the league's vice president of brand and creative, the primary reason was that the league's graphic designers had difficulty designing a suitable, aesthetically pleasing logo with only the Roman numeral "L".
context_section_description: Denver took the opening kickoff and started out strongly. Peyton Manning completed an 18-yard pass to tight end Owen Daniels and a 22-yard throw to receiver Andre Caldwell. A pair of carries by C. J. Anderson moved the ball up 20 yards to the Panthers 14-yard line, but Carolina's defense dug in over the next three plays. First, linebacker Shaq Thompson tackled Ronnie Hillman for a 3-yard loss. Then after an incompletion, Thomas Davis tackled Anderson for a 1-yard gain on third down, forcing Denver to settle for a 3–0 lead on a Brandon McManus 34-yard field goal. The score marked the first time in the entire postseason that Carolina was facing a deficit.
  After each team punted, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton appeared to complete a 24-yard pass to Jerricho Cotchery, but the call was ruled an incompletion and upheld after a replay challenge. CBS analyst and retired referee Mike Carey stated he disagreed with the call and felt the review clearly showed the pass was complete. Two plays later, on 3rd-and-10 from the 15-yard line, linebacker Von Miller knocked the ball out of Newton's hands while sacking him, and Malik Jackson recovered it in the end zone for a Broncos touchdown, giving the team a 10–0 lead. This was the first fumble return touchdown in a Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXVIII at the end of the 1993 season.
  After a punt from both teams, Carolina got on track with a 9-play, 73-yard scoring drive. Newton completed all four of his pass attempts for 51 yards and rushed twice for 25 yards, while Jonathan Stewart finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, cutting the score to 10–7 with 11:28 left in the second quarter. Later on, Broncos receiver Jordan Norwood received Brad Nortman's short 28-yard punt surrounded by Panthers players, but none of them attempted to make a tackle, apparently thinking Norwood had called a fair catch. Norwood had not done so, and with no resistance around him, he took off for a Super Bowl record 61-yard return before Mario Addison dragged him down on the Panthers 14-yard line. Despite Denver's excellent field position, they could not get the ball into the end zone, so McManus kicked a 33-yard field goal that increased their lead to 13–7.
  On Carolina's next possession, fullback Mike Tolbert lost a fumble while being tackled by safety Darian Stewart, which linebacker Danny Trevathan recovered on the Broncos 40-yard line. However, the Panthers soon took the ball back when defensive end Kony Ealy tipped a Manning pass to himself and then intercepted it, returning the ball 19 yards to the Panthers 39-yard line with 1:55 left on the clock. The Panthers could not gain any yards with their possession and had to punt. After a Denver punt, Carolina drove to the Broncos 45-yard line. But with 11 seconds left and no timeouts left, Newton was sacked by DeMarcus Ware causing time for the half to expire.
  The Panthers seemed primed to score on their opening drive of the second half when Newton completed a 45-yard pass to Ted Ginn Jr. on the Denver 35-yard line on their second offensive play. But the Broncos defense halted the drive on the 26-yard line, and it ended with no points when Graham Gano hit the uprights on a 44-yard field goal attempt. After the miss, Manning completed a pair of passes to Emmanuel Sanders for gains of 25 and 22 yards, setting up McManus' 33-yard field goal that gave the Broncos a 16–7 lead. Carolina got off to another strong start after the kickoff, with Newton completing a 42-yard pass to Corey Brown. But once again they came up empty, this time as a result of a Newton pass that bounced off the hands of Ginn and was intercepted by safety T. J. Ward. Ward fumbled the ball deep in Denver territory during the return, but Trevathan was able to recover the ball enabling Denver to keep possession.
  There would be no more scoring in the third quarter, but early in the fourth, the Broncos drove to the Panthers 41-yard line. On the next play, Ealy knocked the ball out of Manning's hand as he was winding up for a pass, and then recovered it for Carolina on the 50-yard line. A 16-yard r
caption: The last punt of Super Bowl 50
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