Panthers rout Cardinals for NFC title

The Panthers will face Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, a generational quarterback matchup that will launch a thousand fiery takes about what a real quarterback ought to be.

Arizona could burn Carolina on big passes, but short of that the matchup is the Panthers’ to lose.

“I keep saying it: We’re not finished”, Newton said.

Carolina’s defense did the rest, most notably making Palmer uncomfortable in the pocket and turning Larry Fitzgerald, the star of last week’s overtime victory against Green Bay, into a virtual non-entity.

Gano kicked another field goal following a stalled drive at the three-yard line, with Newton scoring on a 13-yard run for the Panthers’ fourth touchdown of the game, opening up a 27-point advantage.

Another highlight play came when Corey Brown executed an 86-yard touchdown catch, despite the deep speed that the Cardinals receivers are known for.

Carolina beat the Arizona Cardinals 49-15 at Bank of America Stadium, and these Panthers joined the 2003 group as the second in franchise history to advance to the Super Bowl.

“I tried to take me out of it, but you know it meant a lot to me”, he said.

Along the way, Newton set a Panthers postseason record for passing yards. Newton, for his part, converted those opportunities into four touchdowns – two through the air and two rushing scores.

– Luke Kuechly, Panthers, returned an interception 22 yards for a touchdown in Carolina’s 49-15 win against Arizona. Carolina will look to intercept a pass or two from Palmer, who threw a couple of picks last week and should have thrown a couple more if not for a few Packer drops. During the first five years of Newton’s career, he has set an National Football League record with 21,470 yards from scrimmage. But maybe his biggest play was chasing down Peterson after an interception in the final minute of the first half.

“Cam (Newton) made some plays and we didn’t do as good a job on Greg (Olsen) that we hoped we would and they found him”.

Panthers Pro Bowl linebacker Thomas Davis confirmed after the game he broke his arm in the second half. Another botched tackle, this one at the Carolina 47 by Rashad Johnson, left Brown with nothing but unprotected turf. However, if Jonathan Stewart can repeat his performance from last weekend (106 Yards, two touchdowns), that will just about seal a Panthers victory.

“I ain’t missing the Super Bowl”, Davis said after the game. On both of his TD runs, he laid out the ball or himself to get into the end zone.

Newton’s counterpart, Palmer, was performing like anything but a Most Valuable Player. He was also sacked three times and lost two fumbles.

Palmer, pressured continually by the Carolina pass rush, threw four interceptions and fumbled twice to provide the Panthers with six turnovers. Carolina, Newton 19-28-1-335.