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February 4, 2016Another year, another non-Browns team in the Super Bowl. (Who would have guessed? Cleveland was only 100/1 preseason odds to win the title!) With no local rooting interest taking the field on Sunday, where do the good folks of Cleveland align their support? To help with the vetting process, I have broken down the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers into their most selective and arbitrary components to determine who is most deserving of Northeast Ohio’s love.
Underdog
After the conference title round, Las Vegas crowned the Panthers the title favorites. As of Wednesday, the Panthers were 5.5-point favorites to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The club’s performance seems to back up the hype. Carolina rolled through the regular season amassing a 15-1 record. The Panthers then fought off a desperate Seattle club in the divisional round before steamrolling Arizona, 49-15, to earn a berth to the Super Bowl.
However, everyone loves an underdog and Denver fits that bill as well as any team could. FiveThirtyEight detailed how Peyton Manning had the worst season of any Super Bowl quarterback ever. The Broncos slogged through a 12-4 regular season, outlasted the Steelers at home, and escaped the conference championship with a win over New England. The Broncos looked strong defensively against Tom Brady and the Pats, but the offense (specifically the passing game) has failed to turn many heads. VERDICT: Broncos.
Underlying Hatred
Schadenfreude plays a major role when picking a side in the Super Bowl. So among our football finalists, who has wronged Cleveland more? The Browns and Panthers have only matched up five times, and Carolina has won four of the contests. Cleveland’s lone win versus the Cats came in 2010, when Peyton Hillis rushed for 131 yards and three scores.
Denver, on the other hand? They have some history with the Browns. The Broncos lead the all-time series 20-5; the Browns have not beaten Denver since October 8, 1990. Most infamously, Denver defeated the Browns in three AFC Championship Games – 1986, 1987, and 1989. While those games were before my time, the scars they leave behind haunt Cleveland watering holes to this day. With that much bad blood versus Denver it becomes easier to pull for Carolina. VERDICT: Panthers
Longest Title Drought
More than anything else, Cleveland fans understand waiting. Naturally, northeast Ohioans will tend to favor long suffering fans and tortured fan bases who can truly understand heartbreaking athletic agony. Established in 1995, the Carolina Panthers organization is younger than plenty of players on the Browns roster. The club reached the 2003 Super Bowl, but lost to the New England Patriots, 32-29. Theirs is a 21-year championship drought.
Denver traces its roots back to 1960 and ye olde American Football League. Sunday marks the club’s eighth Super Bowl appearance, with their most recent win coming in the 1998 season. Denver plucked the Atlanta Falcons, 34-19, in John Elway’s final professional game. An 18-year title drought is not insignificant, but Carolina edges the Mile High City in this department. VERDICT: Panthers
Logo
Aesthetics should never be overlooked. The Panthers’ logo has remain mostly unchanged since the team’s founding. In the current version we see the eponymous Panther head with eyes narrowed in hunt and teeth bared in hunger. It’s nice if a bit plain.
The current secondary logo more closely resembles a jack-o-lantern stencil than a professional sports franchise.
But Denver? They have some history. Since 1997, Denver has featured the right-facing horse as its primary marker. The mane flutters slightly, implying speed and power.
The club’s greatest visuals appeared in the free-wheeling AFL days when logos felt more cartoonish and fun. For example, here is their logo from 1962-69.
It’s a football player on a horse. Best of all, number 63 is holding the ball which implies the horse is both in play and trying to score a touchdown. The horse is on the team. Look how much fun that horse is having! For my money, the club should have held firm with their initial look:
A Bronco (wearing spurs!) sits astride a bucking bronco needling his mouth with a toothpick because he does not have a care in the world. Plus the club simultaneously wore the most garish uniforms in pro football history. VERDICT: Broncos
Ohioans
When in doubt, root for guys from Ohio. Denver employs a pair of players who went to school in Ohio. Defensive end Derek Wolfe, a Cincinnati alum, finished the year with 49 tackles and 5.5 sacks. The former Bearcat is playing at a high level in the playoffs and recorded six tackles and a Tom Brady sack in the AFC title game. Cornerback and former Buckeye Bradley Roby only started four games, but is having an impact late in the contests. Against Kansas City in Week 2, Roby scooped a Chiefs fumble and took it to the house for the winning score. Against New England, Roby intercepted Tom Brady’s would-be two-point conversion pass and effectively ended the Patriots’ season.
Carolina owes its 2015 success to a grove of Buckeyes. Second-year wideout Corey “Philly” Brown has five touchdowns on the year, including a score and 113 yards receiving in the NFC Championship Game. The former Buckeye will look to build on his performance in San Francisco. Cleveland’s own Ted Ginn Jr. remains as much a multi-tool threat as he was at Ohio State. Ginn averages 10.3 yards per punt return, though he has yet to take one back for a score in 2015. Ginn caught 10 touchdowns on the season, which marks a new career high. Andrew Norwell plays guard and has started 13 games for Carolina. A second-year player from Ohio State, Norwell hails from Cincinnati. Defensively, Buckeye safety Kurt Coleman is having a career year. He has seven interceptions on the year to go along with 53 tackles and a sack. VERDICT: Panthers
Who ya got?
It was close, but by a 3-2 margin I can confirm that the Carolina Panthers are the team to support in Super Bowl 50. There’s a lot to like about that team: playmaking quarterback, analytical coach, dynamic special teams, and stout defenders. Sadly, the Cleveland Browns do not have much in common with the Cats. It’s difficult to imagine the Browns playing in the Super Bowl, but when the confetti falls Sunday night every team will get the chance to dream that perhaps 2016 will be their year.
13 Comments
What is this Super Bowl you speak of?
When it comes to the Super Bowl, I have decided that I will always pull for the team that has never won one. Since it appears that the Browns will be the last team to ever win a Super Bowl, I figure that getting all of the others out of the way until then might speed up the process. And besides, I want the Browns to get ALL of the attention when they finally win. Circa 2136.
[The presence of so many Buckeyes in Carolina helps seal the deal for this year.]
How do you propose to solve the Detroit conundrum?
No conundrum. If they go, I hope they win (as long as they’re not playing the Browns).
So I can tell my youngest son that if he lives to be 119, he’s got a chance to witness it?!! Hot dog. Hot dog. Hot diggity dog.
As for me, I plan on being frozen like Walt Disney and will have specific instructions for reanimation if we make to the SB.
Better tell your son to tell his son.
Panthers to win big.
Gotta go Denver. Look how much that guy chewing wheat (or picking his teeth?) looks like Peyton! It’s almost like they knew he was going to play for them in the future.
That’s an HGH needle.
But, if you want us to be the last, that assumes Detroit will win one at some point.
That’s some wishful thinking there.
It’s not so much that I WANT us to be last; it’s more that I just expect that we’ll be last (and there’s no tangible evidence to believe otherwise). Thus, if Detroit makes it to a Super Bowl before we do – which I just expect will be the case – then I want them to win that Super Bowl.
Obviously, I’d like for the Browns to win it in 2017. Re-signing Travis Benjamin is the first step. [Dang sarcasm key us broken.]
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That team could pull a Baltimore at some point