Manning just happy to be a Super passenger

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - This wasn't quite how Hollywood would've written it.

Their version of Peyton Manning's NFL farewell would have had him putting the Broncos on his 39-year-old back and leading them to victory in Super Bowl 50. Maybe throwing three or four touchdown passes or leading a valiant, fourth-quarter comeback.

As it turned out, the future Hall of Fame quarterback was more passenger than driver in the Broncos' 24-10 victory over Carolina, which pretty much has been the case all season.

But that mattered little to him Sunday night. He has his second Super Bowl title, which may be two less than Tom Brady has, but at least puts him even with brother Eli, which will make those Manning family get-togethers considerably more pleasant.

Manning completed just 13 of 23 passes for 141 yards and no touchdowns against the Panthers. The 13 completions were Peyton's fewest ever in 27 career playoff appearances. The 141 passing yards were his second lowest postseason total. It was just the sixth time in his career that he failed to throw a touchdown pass in a playoff game.

And that matters not at all. In a few weeks, those numbers will be forgotten and all we will remember is that Peyton Manning went out a winner.

Manning addressed his teammates Saturday night at the team hotel. Didn't tell them this would be his last rodeo, but didn't tell them it wouldn't be.

"It's been an emotional week for everybody,'' Manning said. "(Saturday) night was a special time. It was just the players and coaches together.

"This has been a tough, resilient bunch of guys. That was evident tonight in this game. I was just grateful to have been a part of it, and thanked them for letting me be part of the journey.''

Asked whether he has indeed played his final game, Manning wasn't ready to go there.

"I got some good advice from my old coach, Tony Dungy,'' he said. "He said don't make an emotional decision. This has been an emotional week, an emotional night.

"I have a couple of priorities right now. I want to kiss my wife, kiss my kids. I want to go celebrate with my family and teammates. I'm going to drink a lot of beer tonight. Budweiser. (Super Bowl MVP) Von Miller is buying.

"Those are my priorities at this point. I'll take some time to reflect on (the future). I'm going to say a prayer and thank the man upstairs for this opportunity, for sure.''

This has been a difficult season for Manning. He played much of the season with plantar fasciitis and had the poorest year of his career. His 67.9 passer rating was the lowest of his career. His 59.8 completion percentage was his lowest since his rookie season. He finished 35th - 35th - in the league in passing.

At one point, there actually was serious debate over whether the Broncos would be better off starting Brock Osweiler in the playoffs rather than Manning.

He threw just two touchdown passes and had a 55.4 completion percentage in the Broncos' three playoffs wins. But as has been the case all year, Miller and the defense carried this team, not Manning. They did it again Sunday, sacking Cam Newton six times and forcing four turnovers.

"This defense has been nothing but awesome,'' Manning said.

"He was on a team that could help him get a win, which is awesome,'' Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. "He didn't have to go out there and do it all on his own, and he knew that.

"I told him that I watched John Elway win a championship with 120-something yards passing, and he got one today with about 100 and something yards too. I'm just so proud of him.''

Manning had just nine first-half completions for 76 yards and had little to do with the fact that the Broncos took a 13-7 lead into halftime.

He completed three of his first four passes, including an 18-yard game-opener to tight end Owen Daniels that foiled a Carolina A-gap blitz and a 22-yarder to Andre Caldwell.

But he was 6-for-12 for 30 yards the rest of the half. He made a big boo-boo in the second quarter after a Mike Tolbert fumble and a 34-yard run by C.J. Anderson gave the Broncos a first down at the Carolina 26.

Looking for Emmanuel Sanders on a short throw, he failed to see Panthers defensive end Kony Ealy drop into coverage right in front of Ealy. Ealy picked off Manning's pass for Sanders with one hand, foiling a Denver scoring opportunity.

The Broncos had three first downs on their first possession, then had just one in their next six first-half possessions.

The Panthers' All-Pro corner, Josh Norman, pretty much made Manning's top receiver, Demaryius Thomas, disappear. Thomas had just one catch for eight yards in the game. Six of Manning's 13 completions went to Sanders, who finished with a team-high 83 receiving yards.

Manning attempted just seven passes in the second half. The way the Broncos' defense dominated the Panthers' offense, he knew he simply had to not screw up.

On the Broncos' first possession of the second half, Manning turned to Sanders, first hitting him on a 25-yard slant, then finding him on a comeback route for 22 more yards that gave the Broncos a first down at the Carolina 17.

An offsides penalty on the Panthers' Charles Johnson moved the ball to the 12, but a C.J. Johnson run gained nothing, Manning threw two incompletions and the Broncos had to settle for the last of Brandon McManus' three field goals, which gave them a 16-7 lead.

The Temple product from North Penn High School converted all 10 of his field-goal attempts in the postseason.

With Sunday night's win, Manning became the oldest starting quarterback in history to win a Super Bowl. The previous record was held, interestingly enough, by Broncos general manager John Elway.

"It's hard to get here (to the Super Bowl),'' Manning said. "There's no question our defense led the way. It was just an honor to be a part of it.''

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