Newton, Panthers rout Cardinals for NFC title

“We’re not finished”, Newton said.

“Cam played a great game”, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said.

On a chilly night in Charlotte on Sunday, that road came full circle for Ron Rivera. He is expected to be honored as the MVP for the first time – fans chanted those three letters during the NFC championship postgame ceremony – and he’ll be playing in his first Super Bowl. In 2004, the Panthers lost to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

But in the end, the AFC championship game was less about the future Hall of Famers under center, and more about one dominating defense – as the Denver Broncos pulled out a close victory over the New England Patriots.

For Rivera the feeling is nine years in the making after his career took a bit of a detour following the 2006 season.

Panthers wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery said Ginn didn’t talk much about retribution during the week, but he could tell his buddy was ready to play. “I wanted to do it for Peyton”, said Miller, who was injured and missed Denver’s loss to Seattle in the 2014 Super Bowl. By then, Newton had taken a seat and Derek Anderson had come in for mop-up duty, and it was all over but the pounding.

By many numbers, the season was the best the Cardinals had ever had.

One of his biggest helpers was Ted Ginn, who was dumped by the Cardinals after last season.

“You look at our interceptions this postseason, it’s because of the rush”, said Kuechly, who led the Panthers with eight tackles against the Cardinals.

Newton flipped a 5-yard touchdown pass to Devin Funchess and connected on a 2-point conversion throw for a 42-15 lead and Luke Kuechly returned a Palmer interception 21 yards for a touchdown to end any Arizona hope. Two key players for Carolina’s defense, safety Roman Harper and linebacker Thomas Davis, left the game in the first half with injuries and did not return.

Of all the years for him to pop up and hit the Super Bowl, this is the weirdest by far.

“I’ll be fine man”, said Davis, six tackles against Arizona.

A hot start was encouraging for the Panthers, but they faded out of the game after half time, and they can’t rely on a similar start against a very strong Cardinals side.

Newton set an National Football League mark with 45 touchdowns: 35 passes and 10 runs.

With Carolina leading 3-0, Ginn fielded a punt and weaved through traffic for a 32-yard return to set the Panthers up in Arizona territory.

“I kept digging us a hole”, Palmer said. After yet another Panthers top, Cam Newton found Philly Brown for an 86 yard touchdown. At that point, Johnson had accounted for 83 of the team’s 143 yards. “Newton passed for 335 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores on Sunday – again, brilliance”.

Newton’s counterpart, Palmer, was performing like anything but a Most Valuable Player. The four interceptions of Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer, who also fumbled twice, and a Patrick Peterson muffed punt resulted in the most turnovers in a playoff game since the Rams forced eight turnovers in a win over the Packers in the 2001 NFC divisional playoff game.

Added Denver coach Gary Kubiak: “Defensively we played our tails off all year long and found a way to win another close one”.