Five super bowl storylines coming up

Old gun vs. young gun: Manning, at age 39, has won only one Super Bowl. He might just be the best quarterback in the regular season in history but in this world you need more than one Super Bowl trophy to get into other conversations. This is a chance at No. 2 in a season in which just a few weeks ago few could have predicted he would be there. So it would be a fitting end to a career should he decide to retire. This is his fourth appearance in the game and 2-2 sounds a lot better than 1-3. Manning was the No. 1 pick of the in 1998. Panthers QB Cam Newton was the No. 1 pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2011 and has led the team to 17 wins this season. In the title game he threw for 335 yards and rushed for 47. There was no better QB in the league this year. He is as physical as a QB can be and it is extremely difficult to defend him. But the Broncos figured out how to stop the Patriots’ offense, which not many people figured they would.

It could be a blowout: There is some sense that the best game already happened, Patriots-Broncos in the title game. Denver’s offense vs. Carolina’s offense. No match on paper. So the Broncos defense has to come up big like it did vs. the Patriots. Let’s hope so, otherwise the Super Bowl party might not last past halftime. The Panthers opened as four-point favorites, which to some might feel low.