Super Bowl 50 Odds: Panthers are early favorites over Manning, Broncos
The Carolina Panthers are 17–1 straight up and 13–5 against the spread in 18 games this season. The Panthers will be looking for their first Super Bowl win in franchise history on February 7 when they take on the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50.
Carolina is sitting as an early 4.5-point betting favorite for Super Bowl 50 according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. In their last 15 games as a favorite of six points or less, the Panthers are 15–0 straight up and 10-5 against the spread.
Snap Judgments: Super Bowl 50 will be fitting ending for NFL’s top seeds
In what was supposed to be a dogfight between the NFC's two best teams in the NFC Championship Game, Carolina emerged as the clearly superior team over the Arizona Cardinals. The Panthers jumped all over the Cardinals right out of the gate as they had one week before against the Seattle Seahawks, eventually running away with a 49–15 win.
Cam Newton passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more, and the Panthers' vaunted defense racked up seven turnovers.
The Panthers have been a postseason favorite five times since 2004, going 4–1 straight up and against the spread over that span per the OddsShark NFL Database.
After throwing 17 interceptions in his first nine games of the season, Peyton Manning has now played 10 straight quarters of football without an interception.
Manning didn't need to do too much in Denver's 20–18 upset win over the New England Patriots, but his two touchdown passes to Owen Daniels in the first half set the tone early and gave Denver's defense a chance to carry the Broncos to a win.
This Denver team seems to flourish in the underdog role with a 5–1 straight up and 5–0–1 against the spread record in its last six games as a betting underdog.
Super Bowl Sunday's total is set at 45 points. The OVER is 7–2 in Carolina's last nine games.
As the betting line suggests, Carolina looks to have an edge in Super Bowl 50 with the league's best offense to go along with its elite defense. But the Patriots were supposed to have an offensive edge over Denver too, and that didn't pan out due to Denver's smothering defense. This one has the makings of a great championship game.
