Super Bowl 50: Latest Buzz and Predictions for Sunday

With Super Bowl 50 quickly approaching, the news, injury updates and predictions surrounding the game have greatly intensified.

For the Carolina Panthers, getting key players fully healthy for the Super Bowl has been a primary objective. Two defensive stars in particular—linebacker Thomas Davis and defensive end Jared Allen—are dealing with serious injuries that have clouded their playing status for Sunday.

Davis, a first-time Pro Bowler this season, suffered a broken arm in Carolina's NFC Championship Game victory over the Arizona Cardinals back on Jan. 24. But having overcome three ACL tears in a span of 23 months, Davis is certainly no stranger to overcoming adversity, and anyone who thought he would miss the Super Bowl was dead wrong.

A few hours after the injury, Davis vowed to play in the Super Bowl. His wife, Kelly, posted a photo to her Instagram page of Davis preparing for surgery (h/t NFL.com's Ian Rapoport):

Equipped with a protective arm brace over about a dozen screws and a metal plate, Davis returned to practice on Monday and has been a full participant this week.

In an interview with NFL Media's Steve Wyche on Friday (h/t NFL.com's Andie Hagemann), Rivera confirmed that Davis will, in fact, start for the Panthers in Super Bowl 50:

"

Yes, yes I do (expect Davis to start) based on everything I'm seeing from him right now and what the doctors have talked about -- they talk about him every day and we go over everything he's done and what they're seeing. That's been a huge plus. He actually took a shot in the arm yesterday and said 'I'm fine. That felt pretty good.'

"

Meanwhile, Allen's Super Bowl status was undetermined in the wake of Carolina's NFC Championship Game victory. The 33-year-old defensive end has been dealing with a broken foot that kept him out of that game. 

Like Davis, however, Allen returned to practice this week and is expected to play, although his effectiveness will surely be in question. 

In the week leading up to what could be his last NFL game, Allen has enjoyed the media attention. He even made national news yesterday after giving each of his fellow defensive linemen a peculiar gift:

The Panthers are surely glad to have veteran leaders such as Davis and Allen back for the Super Bowl, even if their effectiveness may be limited. 

Three Broncos starters have been primarily monitored for their injuries: guard Louis Vasquez and safeties Darian Stewart and TJ Ward. After being limited in practice on Wednesday, all three were fully present on Thursday, giving the Broncos perfect participation attendance. 

Denver did suffer an unfortunate incident on Tuesday, as Broncos practice squad safety Ryan Murphy was sent home by head coach Gary Kubiak for his potential involvement in a prostitution sting.

On Wednesday, Kubiak expressed his sentiments on the whole situation, per ESPN.com's Jeff Legwold:

"

Yeah, there's disappointment, but it's been dealt with and we've moved on. I dealt with it [Tuesday], and obviously disappointed for the young man, but we're focused on what we have to do football-wise, we're on work [Wednesday] morning with our meetings and getting into our routine. So we've moved on.

"

In addition to the injury news and the Murphy incident, there has been another interesting storyline during the week: a back-and-forth exchange between Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders and Panthers All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman.

Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com noted a media-day quote from Sanders, in which the receiver claimed that Norman has "talked himself into the media":

Norman, who has emerged as one of the best cornerbacks in the game, is also known for being a world-class trash-talker, despite the fact that he's backed up his talk on the field. Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports reported Norman's quick, direct rebuttal to Sanders' comment:

After that, Sanders tried to diffuse the situation by clarifying his comments, according to Eric Prisbell of USA Today:

"

That story has blown up. I pretty much (said) that I’ve been here for four days and I’ve answered more questions about Josh Norman. Robert McClain is on the opposite side. Luke Kuechly is in the middle. They have a defense. They have 10 other guys out there. Is that fair to keep asking questions about one guy as if me and him are the only ones out there playing? Walk up and ask me questions about the defense in general because they have a great defense.

"

Regardless of whether or not Sanders was, in fact, taking shots at Norman, the damage has been done. It will be interesting to see who wins the Sanders-Norman matchup on Sunday, when it actually counts.

Now that the bulk of media coverage has been completed, analysts from practically every sports website around are making their Super Bowl 50 predictions. The table below includes the predictions of top analysts from NFL.com, ESPN.com, and CBSSports.com:

Analyst	Site	Super Bowl Pick
Adam Schein	NFL.com	Panthers
Elliot Harrison	NFL.com	Panthers
Willie McGinest	NFL.com	Panthers
Chris Berman	ESPN.com	Broncos
Ron Jaworski	ESPN.com	Panthers
Adam Schefter	ESPN.com	Broncos
Trey Wingo	ESPN.com	Broncos
Pete Prisco	CBSSports.com	Broncos
Jason La Canfora	CBSSports.com	Panthers
Dave Richard	CBSSports.com	Panthers

Prediction

In the past two weeks, I have written pieces on both the Broncos and Panthers pertaining to a particular aspect of their Super Bowl chances.

The Denver defense is dominant, and John Elway deserves to be commended for placing additional importance on that side of the ball in the wake of the team's embarrassing Super Bowl XLVIII loss. 

Cam Newton has played phenomenal football all season, but he's been at his best in the playoffs. If the Panthers offensive line can give him adequate time to make throws, he should have another good game.

What really separates the two teams, though, is the Panthers' domination on both sides of the ball. While the Carolina defense has proved that it can take over a game, the Denver offense hasn't been that dominant at any point this season.

Denver will play well, but in the end, Carolina wins a hard-fought game as Newton takes home the Super Bowl MVP award.

Panthers 28, Broncos 17