The Keys to Denver's Unsexy Super Bowl Title

Toward the end of last night's Super Bowl, CBS lead announcer Jim Nantz returned to a familiar subject: Peyton Manning. Sensing the inevitable Broncos win, Nantz began to speculate about the quarterback's future in Denver. "Do you think he'll come back?" he asked broadcast partner Phil Simms. CBS's first post-game interview also went to Manning, who told Tracy Wolfson that he didn't yet know his plans.

But why was Manning still the story? Sure, he's a future Hall of Famer, and this second ring will give him a bit more validation in simplistic pissing contests against Tom Brady and Joe Montana. On Sunday, though, he totaled just 141 passing yards, threw a pick, fumbled, and was sacked six times; Carolina defenders nearly added two or three more interceptions to the tally. The Broncos finished the evening with the lowest total yardage for a winning team in Super Bowl history. Any clear-eyed account of Denver's victory would show that their quarterback had little to do with it.

There is no sexy way to explain why Denver won Super Bowl 50, so CBS settled for the easy way, and Nantz did what he was born to do: talk about Manning in hushed tones.

I broke down the scenarios that I thought would lead to a Denver victory on Friday, and, despite the offense being even more underwhelming than I'd imagined, Denver followed that formula to win this game. Von Miller and Demarcus Ware torched the Panthers tackles, forcing the fumble and score that put Carolina behind the game script.

Here's the funny thing, though: Carolina's defense actually played just as well. They held the Broncos without a touchdown until the ball was placed inside their own red zone. As I feared, Manning couldn't do much. Running back C.J. Anderson had a few big carries by shaking off tacklers, but he wasn't a drive-sustainer.

The unsexy reason the Broncos won this game? Special teams.

Actually, I'll give you the numbers. DVOA for SB 50. CAR +12% (-30% OFF, -58% DEF, -17% ST). DEN +28% (-50% OFF, -58% DEF, +21% ST).

— Aaron Schatz (@FO_ASchatz)February 8, 2016

Out of 15 offensive drives, the Panthers started inside their own 30 on 12 of them. On the three drives where they didn't, they managed a field goal and two three-and-outs. This was a case of Carolina's best offensive drives coming far enough away that Denver could weather them.

Denver had two separate drives start inside the Carolina red zone, one thanks to a huge 61-yard Jordan Norwood punt return. They also recovered a Carolina fumble in Panthers territory.

Combine the results of those drives with the fumble recovery touchdown, and you come up with 17 points, or, basically, the final margin of the game.

To be honest, I am surprised by this result. I was as sure that the Panthers would win this game coming into it as I've ever been about a Super Bowl. (Of course, the last time I was this sold on a team winning the Super Bowl, I also was wrong: I believed San Francisco would decimate the Elite Joe Flacco Squad.)

It's not that these Broncos aren't a "worthy" champion, whatever that means. It's just that, if you take the long view of things, you'd generally bet against teams that can't throw. To believe otherwise is to believe the Rams would be a playoff force if Jeff Fisher ever allowed them to rise above eight wins a season.

The easily available comparison here is the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. They also destroyed their competition in the Super Bowl, but the Giants offense they decimated was nowhere near as good, nor the team as complete, as this year's Panthers.

So, what do we make of this Super Bowl? Those looking to make a leap could conclude that historically great defenses can drag whatever quarterback they brought to the title. On the other hand, it's easy to say we can't actually learn anything from the extremely small sample size that is one game. I'm somewhere between the two poles.

It's hard to view this Super Bowl as anything but vindication for John Elway, who was able to retool this roster to dominate on defense even as the Manning era wound down. Sometimes, winning can be as simple as being the best at one thing. That's all it took on Sunday.

See all of VICE Sports' Super Bowl 50 coverage here.