Kony Ealy's Star-Making Performance Shouldn't Be Casualty of SB Loss

When the clock struck zero on the Carolina Panthers' magical run at a Super Bowl championship, the team fell just short of its ultimate goal and lost to the Denver Broncos by a final score of 24-10. Though the Panthers' roster was mostly void of top-tier performances, defensive end Kony Ealy did his best Jared Allen impression and turned in a Super Bowl performance for the ages.

Though it's almost certain to get lost in the postgame reaction shuffle, the fact that the 24-year-old University of Missouri product put together an incredible highlight reel over the course of the team's loss to the Broncos shouldn't be overlooked.

Ealy was all over the field, and by the end of the game, the former first-team all-SEC standout had amassed an impressive stat line, including three sacks, two tackles for a loss, a pass defended, two QB hits, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception.

Attentive NFL fans and Panthers fans are well aware of Ealy, his accomplishments and upside; however, he's gone largely unnoticed by the average fan since being selected in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft. The 2014 Sports Illustrated All-Rookie Team selection has been a solid producer for the Panthers throughout his two professional seasons, as illustrated by the chart below.

Year	G	GS	TKL	AST	SK	FF	FR	PD
2014	15	0	9	7	4.0	1	0	0
2015	16	9	15	17	5.0	3	2	2
Total	31	9	24	24	9.0	4	2	2

Ealy, who displayed a true knack for getting after the quarterback during his days at Missouri, has shown that his brand of defense is capable of transitioning to the next level. He showed improvement in 2015 after a solid rookie showing, and he looked the part of a starting defensive end in the team's Super Bowl loss. 

On the biggest stage of his young career, Ealy played what was easily the best game of his NFL career.

With the Panthers down 13-7 in the second quarter, the Missouri native logged an incredible one-handed interception of Broncos QB Peyton Manning.

That interception—shown in the video above—set the Panthers up with outstanding field position and even gave them a chance to regain the lead before the end of the first half.

Though the latter portion of that scenario never came to fruition, the interception certainly had a major impact on the trajectory of the game, as the Broncos were smack-dab in the middle of a five-play, 36-yard drive that had them situated at the Panthers' 24-yard line.

Last year, Ealy wouldn't have made that play. Just ask him yourself.

In an interview with Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star, Ealy told Paylor that "Last year, I kind of used to run around like a chicken with his head cut off, if you will. I didn’t get it all the way. I thought it was all about me in that moment."

Tonight, Ealy got it. He displayed improved technique and routinely beat his assignments en route to a share of the record for sacks in a Super Bowl.

Ealy was outstanding, and if not for an unfortunately large number of turnovers on the part of the Panthers offense, the second-year defensive end could easily have been the Super Bowl MVP.

That said, don't count him out as a potential defensive star in the near future, as the team's top performer told Paylor earlier this week that "I’m still growing as a player, still growing as a human being. But at the end of the day, there’s no organization I’d rather be in."

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

With that type of attitude and the type of plays he proved capable making on the largest stage of his football career, Ealy seems to have a very bright future ahead of him.

Fortunately for Ealy, that bright future could begin to materialize sooner, rather than later.

The team's regular starter, Jared Allen, dealt with a foot injury during the back end of the 2015-16 season, and at 33 years old, looked like a player on the way out. Though the future Hall of Famer started all 12 games he appeared in with the Panthers, he was rather ineffective on the field, logging just 15 tackles and two sacks.

The door is open for Ealy to overtake Allen in the Panthers' D-line rotation as early as Week 1 next season. Given his outstanding upside—he ranked as the ninth-best draft prospect in the 2014 NFL draft, according to our own Matt Miller—it's reasonable to expect that his play in the Super Bowl was just the first step in the former second-round pick's trek toward becoming an irreplaceable part of one of the league's best defenses.

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