While there are many reasons the Panthers lost to the Broncos, their poor performance on first down was one of the most significant factors.
Now that we have all had more than 24 hours to digest the Panthers poor showing in Super Bowl 50 and collectively advance through at least a few of the stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, COTCHERY CAUGHT THE BALL!!!, and finally acceptance), perhaps we can now look at the game a little more objectively.
In reviewing the play-by-play I was struck to see in black and white just how badly Carolina struggled on first downs throughout the game.