Super Bowl 50 Betting: How Manning, Broncos Can Cover Odds, Win on Sunday

Can Peyton Manning lead the Denver Broncos to a win in Super Bowl 50 in what could be his last game before retiring and riding off into the sunset like John Elway?

That is really what siding with the underdog Broncos comes down to—trusting Manning to be more of a game manager and not risk making costly mistakes in The Big Game.

The betting public has chosen to back the favored Carolina Panthers at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark early on, but that does not mean they are right. The underdog has won 10 of the last 20 Super Bowls, going 14-5-1 against the spread.

Denver has the better defense—the best in the NFL this season—and is one of very few teams that can possibly contain Carolina quarterback Cam Newton. With pass-rushers like Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware chasing Newton around, the Broncos have a great chance to cover the spread.

It will likely come down to Manning’s play, though, regardless of how well the Denver defense fares. He has appeared in three Super Bowls previously, two of them with the Indianapolis Colts, beating the Chicago Bears and losing to the New Orleans Saints. In 2014, he lost to the Seattle Seahawks.

Manning was named Super Bowl XLI MVP against the Bears, but he was also one of the reasons the Colts lost Super Bowl XLIV 31-17 three years later, throwing an interception for a touchdown versus the Saints.

With the Broncos, he appeared in Super Bowl XLVIII two years ago and threw two picks in a 43-8 blowout loss.

Elway led Denver to back-to-back Super Bowl wins to close out the 1990s after he lost three a decade earlier. Manning’s career playoff record is 13-13 following two wins this year, and a victory in Super Bowl 50 would allow him to retire with a winning postseason mark after critics have pointed to that as his major flaw.

If Manning can get help from the running game like he did in his only Super Bowl win with the Colts and his defense pressures Newton like it can, the Broncos will cover the spread and possibly pull off the upset.

He just needs to stay composed and not feel the pressure to do too much.