SANTA CLARA >> C.J. Anderson would not be denied.
The same goes for the Denver Broncos.
With 3:13 left in the fourth quarter, Denver needed to get in the end zone to ice the Super Bowl over the Carolina Panthers.
Anderson gave the Broncos just that, as he bullied past tacklers for a two-yard touchdown run that clinched the 24-10 win.
Anderson, the Bethel High graduate and former Times-Herald Male Athlete of the Year, finished with 90 yards on 23 carries in his second Super Bowl in his three seasons in the NFL.
Locally, this game was all about Anderson but nationally was also about the legendary career of Peyton Manning.
If this was the final game of his career, what a Super way for the signal caller to go out.
He can thank Von Miller and the Broncos’ swarming, big-play defense for his second NFL championship.
Adding that ring to his five MVP awards, Manning certainly can be satisfied and comfortable in retirement should Sunday’s victory over the Carolina Panthers be his finale. He wasn’t the star — game MVP Miller seemingly was everywhere on every Carolina play — but Manning really hasn’t been the headliner in this injury-shortened season.
Emulating his Broncos boss, John Elway, the 39-year-old Manning can ride off with the Lombardi Trophy after leading Denver to its third NFL title, first since 1999 — when Elway was the quarterback.
“I’ll take some time to reflect,” Manning said when asked if Super Bowl 50 is the end. “I got a couple priorities first. I’m going to go kiss my wife and my kids. … I’m going to drink a lot of Budweiser tonight. Take care of those things first.”
Denver’s suffocating defense kept Cam Newton jittery all day. Despite wearing gold shoes before the golden Super Bowl, Newton couldn’t finish off a dynamic season in which he was the league’s MVP.
Miller twice stripped him, once for a touchdown, the second time setting up a clinching TD. Denver’s top-ranked defense, the one that ran roughshod over Tom Brady in the NFC championship, simply wouldn’t let Newton get comfortable.
“It’s every one of these guys who go me to this,” Miller said.
Manning finished 13 for 23 for 141 yards against a strong Carolina (17-2) defense that just couldn’t match Miller and company.
