Tale of the Tape for Denver Broncos, Carolina Panthers

Super Bowl 50 is just days away and some have made their mind up on who they are taking in the big game while others are still undecided.

No matter which boat you fall into, it never hurts to take a look at the stats.  Remember... stats never lie right?

There are certainly some similarities between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos and there are certainly some differences as we look at the tale of the tape.

*** Information below provided by the NFL Communications

SUPER BOWL 50: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2016

CAROLINA PANTHERS–NFC SOUTH (17-1) AT DENVER BRONCOS–AFC WEST (14-4)

SERIES

REGULAR SEASON STAT LEADERS

​PANTHERS: 2nd Super Bowl appearance in franchise history (XXXVIII, 2/1/04 vs. NE)…Have won team-record 17 games, incl. club-record 15 in regular season. Clinched No. 1 seed for 1st time in franchise history. Won NFC South for 3rd consecutive season & have won division 6 times. Head coach RON RIVERA has won division in 3 of 5 seasons with Car. Panthers had NFL-best 10 players selected to Pro Bowl: LB THOMAS DAVIS (1st), C RYAN KALIL (5th), LB LUKE KUECHLY (3rd), QB CAM NEWTON (3rd), CB JOSH NORMAN (1st), TE GREG OLSEN (2nd), DT KAWANN SHORT(1st), RB JONATHAN STEWART (1st), FB MIKE TOLBERT (2nd) & G TRAI TURNER (1st)…Led NFL with franchise-record 500 points scored & 59 TDs in regular season. Lead NFL in postseason with 80 points & 10 TDs. Scored 49 points in NFC Champ, most scored in NFC Champ in SB era…QB Newton is only player in NFL history with 30+ pass TDs (35) & 10+ rush TDs (10) in season. Accounted for 45 TDs in regular season, most in NFL. Passed for 3,837 yards & rushed for 636 yards in regular season. Is only player in NFL history with 3,000+ pass yards & 500+ rush yards in 5 seasons. Has 31 career regular-season games with pass TD & rush TD, tied for most in NFL history (HOFer STEVE YOUNG). Had 3 games with 5 TD passes. In NFC Champ, became only player in NFL history with 300+ pass yards, 2+ pass TDs & 2+ rush TDs in playoff game…RB Stewart leads NFL with 189 postseason rush yards (94.5 per game). Had 1,088 scrimmage yards in regular season, his 3rd career season with 1,000+ scrimmage yards. FB Tolbertscored 2 pt conversion in NFC Champ. TE Olsen had 77 catches for 1,104 yards & 7 TDs in regular season, his 2nd consecutive season with 75+ catches, 1,000+ yards & 6+ TDs. Is only NFL TE with 5+ rec. TDs in each of past 8 seasons. Had 6 catches for 113 yards in NFC Champ. WR TED GINN JR. led team with career-high 10 rec. TDs. Has scored 7 TDs in his past 6 games, incl. 22-yard TD run in NFC Champ. WR COREY BROWN had 4 catches for 113 yards in NFC Champ, incl. 86-yard TD catch. Rookie WR DEVIN FUNCHESS ranked 3rd on team with 5 rec. TDs & had TD catch in NFC Champ…Club led NFL in regular season with 39 takeaways, 24 INTs & +20 turnover differential. Panthers lead NFL in postseason with 9 takeaways, 6 INTs & +8 turnover differential. LB Kuechly led team with 118 tackles in regular season. Since entering NFL in 2012, leads league with 591 tackles. Has 14 INTs since 2012 (incl. playoffs), most by NFL LB. Is 1st player in NFL history with INT-TD in back-to-back playoff games in single postseason. His 2 INT-TDs are tied for most in single postseason. LB Davis was 2nd on team with 105 tackles in regular season. Was only player in NFL with 4+ sacks (5.5) & 4+ INTs (4) in regular season. DT Short has career-high 13 sacks (incl. playoffs), most by NFL DT. Has 4 games with 2+ sacks. Has sack in both playoff games. Incl. playoffs, Panthers lead NFL with 6 INT-TDs: Kuechly (3), CB Norman (2) & S KURT COLEMAN (1). Kuechly leads NFL with 3 INT-TDs (incl. playoffs) & Norman is tied for 2nd. Coleman has 9 INTs, tied for most in NFL (incl. playoffs). Had 2 INTs in NFC Champ. DE JARED ALLENhas 4 sacks & 2 FFs in his past 5 postseason games. Incl. playoffs, Allen has 140 career sacks, tied for 2nd most in NFL among active players. DE CHARLES JOHNSON has sack in both playoff games this season & has 4 sacks in past 4 postseason games. Since 2006, S ROMAN HARPER is only DB in NFL with 15+ sacks (18), 15+ FFs (15) & 10+ INTs (11). DE MARIO ADDISON had 6 sacks in regular season, his 2nd consecutive season with 6+ sacks…K GRAHAM GANO led NFC with franchise-record 146 points in regular season. Incl. playoffs, has scored 164 points, most in NFC.

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BRONCOS: 8th Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, tying Dallas, New England & Pittsburgh for most ever. Won AFC West for 5th consecutive season (tied for 5th-longest streak in NFL history) & 15th time overall. Are 11-3 in games decided by 7 points or fewer in 2015 (incl. playoffs), most of any club in single season in NFL history…GARY KUBIAK (12) tied RED MILLER (1977) for most wins by head coach in 1st season with Broncos. 1st to reach Super Bowl with same team as player & head coach in NFL history…QB PEYTON MANNING is 1st QB in NFL history to lead multiple teams to multiple Super bowls. Ranks 2nd in playoff history in passing yards (7,198), completions (636) & attempts (1,004), trailing only TOM BRADY (738 of 1,183 for 7,957 yards). Manning (40) ranks 4th all-time in postseason TD passes & needs 4 to tie BRETT FAVRE (44) for 3rd all-time. Has 13 career postseason wins & needs 1 tie to HOFers TERRY BRADSHAW (14) & JOHN ELWAY (14) for 3rd-most of any starting QB in NFL playoff history. Needs 21 pass attempts to eclipse HOFers JIM KELLY (145) & JOHN ELWAY (152) for 2nd-most in SB history. Has 860 career passing yards in 3 SBs & needs 140 to join Brady (1,605), KURT WARNER (1,156), JOE MONTANA (1,142) & Elway (1,128) as only players to reach 1,000 in SB career. Manning (9) has 9 career 300-yard games in postseason & needs 1 to tie Brady (10) for most ever. This season, Manning (186 wins; 71,940 yards) tied Favre (186 wins; 71,838 yards) for most regular-season wins by starting QB & surpassed him for most career pass yards…Broncos were 1 of 2 NFL teams to have 2 700-yard rushers in 2015 – RB RONNIE HILLMAN (863) & RB C.J. ANDERSON (720). Hillman led team with career-high 863 yards & 7 rush TDs. In past 3 playoff games, Anderson averages 94 scrimmage yards per game with rush TD…WR DEMARYIUS THOMAS led team in catches (105) & receiving yards (1,304) with 6 TDs. 1st Bronco with 4 consecutive 1,200-yard receiving seasons. 1 of 2 Broncos with back-to-back 100-catch seasons (BRANDON MARSHALL, 2007-09). Since 2012, ranks 2nd in NFL with 5,787 receiving yards. In 9 career playoff games, averages 83.4 yards per game (751 total) with 6 TDs. Has 52 career postseason catches, most in Broncos history. Needs 110 receiving yards & 1 TD catch to surpass ROD SMITH (860 yards, 6 TDs) for franchise playoff records. Has TD catch in 5 of past 7 in postseason. Posted 13 catches for 118 yards & 1 TD in SB XLVIII. WR EMMANUEL SANDERS led team with 62 receiving yards on 5 catches vs. Patriots in AFC Championship. In past 5 (including playoffs), has 29 catches for 494 yards & 2 TDs. TE OWEN DANIELS had 2 TD catches vs. Patriots in AFC Championship & became 3rd player in franchise history with 2 TD receptions in playoff game & 1st to do so since CLARENCE KAY on 1/10/88 vs. Houston Oilers...LBs DANNY TREVATHAN (109) & BRANDON MARSHALL (101) ranked 1st & 2nd on team in tackles in 2015…Broncos led NFL in total defense (283.1 yards per game) & pass defense (199.6 yards per game)…LB DE MARCUS WARE has 5.5 sacks in 7 career postseason games, including .5 sack vs. Pats. Since 2008, CB AQIB TALIB leads NFL with 8 INT-TDs. LB VON MILLER posted 2.5 sacks & INT vs. NE in AFC Championship. Led team with 11 sacks & joined SIMON FLETCHER (5) as only Broncos with 4+ 10-sack seasons. Has 4 career postseason sacks & aims to join Fletcher (6) & RULON JONES (6) as only Broncos with 5+ playoff sacks since 1982…Club had 4 players selected to 2015 Pro Bowl (LB Miller, LB Ware, CB CHRIS HARRIS, CB Talib).

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