The Denver Broncos showed us that “defense really does win championships” in their 24-10 rout of the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. The win set Peyton Manning off into likely retirement the right way, and Cam Newton was left with only a bright future instead of a Super Bowl ring.
With the 2015-2016 season in the books, it’s time to take a look back at what we learned from this year.
The headliner throughout the whole year was MVP Newton, and rightfully so. Newton posted historic numbers becoming the first player in the NFL to record 30+ passing touchdowns, and 10+ rushing scores. However, I believe that he and the Panthers can still get better. Despite posting the worst line of his professional career in Super Bowl 50, the young Panther quarterback didn’t have much help from the rest of the offense. The Panthers took a huge blow early on in the year when their best wide-receiver, Kelvin Benjamin, tore his ACL and had to miss the rest of the season. With Benjamin back next year, opponents will be forced to respect the long pass giving Newton more freedom in and around the pocket.
With arguably the best defense in the NFL, led by Luke Kuechly, and Josh Norman, who are capable of forcing a league best 39 turnovers every year, the ball will be in Newton’s hand even more. With all this said, there is no doubt that the Panthers are the early favorites to win Super Bowl 51.
Staying in the NFC South, the Atlanta Falcons had the type of season the fans of the city are quite accustomed too. Dan Quinn’s team got off to a hot 6-1 start but they quickly lost all their momentum losing six consecutive games, and ultimately finishing the year a disappointing 8-8.
Despite the horribly mediocre record, it wasn’t all bad things from the Falcons this past year. Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman proved quite the opposite. If nothing else has come from this season it is that these two Falcons have become two of the best position players in all of the NFL. Jones has been the one consistency over the span of these past three years, but second year running-back Freeman jumped onto the scene posting a tied league best 11 touchdowns, surprising everyone.
In his first year Quinn made some huge strides in progressing this team into a potential playoff contender. On the defensive side of the ball he took them from the worst rush defense in the league, and made them one best in just one year. Under new offensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan, the team proved that they were able to move the ball, but struggled in the red zone committing far too many turnovers.
In the end this was a transitional year for the Falcons. However, having to face the challenge of playing teams like the Panthers twice next year, Atlanta has to figure out these issues fast if they want a chance at a playoff birth next season.
