Since the Super Bowl Fifty fiasco and the NFL's deck stacked against them with Peyton Manning's "storybook" career winding down, the NFL wanted a nice, neat bow tied around the half-century mark of Super Bowl history, and a few key "missed calls" *AHEM* certainly helped the Broncos accomplish that feat. However, it's still a fact that the Panthers' offense never could get untracked as they went up against a defense that was every bit as good as their own.
Carolina out-gained Denver, but simply could not solve the fierce speed-rushers off the edges, exposing the exterior offensive line as average at best.