I normally talk Super Bowl once and never come back to it, but this time, I feel I need to write after Opening Night. Opening Night begins Monday, February 1^st, at 8:00pm, and then comes Media Day the next morning. I think that Media Day is always a good time to see and find out how the players and coaches plan to come in to the Super Bowl with in terms of their mindset (don’t get too carried away like Marshawn Lynch, though). Anyways, here are my predictions for Super Bowl 50, pre-Media Day:

The Players

Expect the players of the Carolina Panthers to come out and show their exciting side of themselves. The team is a bunch of party freaks, honestly, because that’s what the season has been like. The Denver Broncos players, on the other hand, know what it is like to face challenges, and they will come laser-focused and ready to go. I think Denver could use their ability to stay calm to their advantage.

The Coaches

Both Broncos Coach Gary Kubiak and Panthers Coach Ron Rivera have been part of a Super Bowl team. Kubiak was a backup QB and Offensive Coordinator for the Broncos during their Super Bowl runs in ’97 and ’98, and Ron Rivera was part of the ’85 Chicago Bears team as a linebacker, and that team may have been the greatest football team ever.

The Game

After Media Day, you can get an even better feel of what the teams want to do in the game, and how they will come out and pursue their goal. So far, if I had to make a prediction based on how I’ve seen these teams play, I would have to go with the Broncos, knowing they’ve come up big in many, many games this year. QBs Cam Newton and Peyton Manning will light up the field, but the Panthers defense, led by CB Josh Norman, won’t be able to stop the receiving core of WRs Demariyus Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, and TE Owen Daniels. Manning gets the MVP, and retires as the GREATEST OF ALL TIME! Final Score: 41-34, Broncos