The Carolina Panthers are looking for a berth to the Super Bowl with a win on Sunday. (Getty)
Final
Arizona Cardinals 0-7-0-8 — 15
Carolina Panthers 17-7-10-15 — 49
Cam Newton is having a lot of fun. The Carolina Panthers are having a lot of fun. Now, they’re going to have some more fun in the Super Bowl.
The No. 1 seed in the NFC cruised to a victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night, notching a berth to Super Bowl 50 in a game that was, perhaps, one of the most well-rounded performances by any team in the entire league this season.
This is a fairly good summary of how everything went down:
From a statistical standpoint, the Panthers were nothing short of dominant. Newton threw for 335 yards and two touchdowns, completing 19 of his 28 attempts, and setting a Carolina postseason record in the process. He also rushed for two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the Carolina defense was operating on a whole other level. The Panthers picked off Carson Palmer four times and forced a whopping seven turnovers. In other words, it was not a good day to be in an Arizona uniform.
Click here to check out a full box score of the game and read on for a recap of some of the NFC Championship’s best moments.
The Panthers Could Not Stop Scoring & the Cardinals Twitter Was Pretty Sad About It
Cam Newton found Devin Funchess for another touchdown pass and, in the process, set the Panthers franchise record for passing yards in the postseason. Then, the Cardinals twitter got sad:
Then, the Panthers defense started inflicting some psychological pain on Carson Palmer who had, at this point, thrown three interceptions. Luke Kuechly picked off Palmer for the pick-six and the route, is, officially on. The internet is also enjoying this a lot:
The Cardinals have five turnovers. It has not been a good night for the Cardinals.
Also, for those keeping track at home, the 49 points the Panthers have scored (so far) are an NFC Championship record.
Newton. Again. The Panthers Twitter Is Getting Sassy
Hey @SportsCenter. It’s us again. We have your No.1
SportsCenter answered:
.@Panthers You can bet he’ll be on there once (or twice, or maybe even three times).
In case the tweets didn’t point it out, Newton ran in his second touchdown of the night late in the third quarter, padding the Panthers lead and his own stats. The Panthers star (can we call him the MVP yet) had rushed for 33 yards and two touchdowns by the end of the third quarter. He also threw for 266 yards and another touchdown on 15 completions.
Cam Newton might be good at this whole football thing.
Cam Newton Continued to Be Tall & Good at Running the Ball
Cam Newton career from the 1-yard line: 19 rushes, 14 TD (including Sunday)
Cam Newton is 6-foot-5 and he used every single one of those inches to get the ball across the end zone line to lift the Panthers to a 24-7 lead late in the second quarter. It was also pretty historic for the Carolina quarterback:
Cam Newton: 1st career rushing TD in playoffs.
Newton’s end zone moment came after the Carolina defense forced a third Cardinals turnover, recovering a fumble and allowing the offense to march down the field for its third touchdown of the half.
David Johnson Continues to Spark the Cardinals Offense
David Johnson now has 5 rushing TD in his last 5 games
This rookie might be pretty darn good.
David Johnson was a splarkplug for Arizona all season and he’s stepped up to the metaphorical plate on Sunday night when the Cards needed a bit of a jump. Carson Palmer, finally, started to find his arm midway through the second quarter, but in the end it was Johnson who got his team on the board, barreling his way into the end zone.
You want to see some strength, Johnson shows some strength on this play:
Cam Newton. Corey Brown. 86 Yards.
Just like you guys all drew it up, right?
After shutting down the Arizona Cardinals offense once again (Carson Palmer has completed one pass so far this game) and the Panthers are in the end zone again as Cam Newton connected with Corey Brown for an 86 yard strike.
HE GONE.
Cam Newton finds Corey Brown for an 86-yard TD.
You’re going to want to watch this one:
So, you know, things are going pretty well for Carolina in these first 15 minutes of play. Also, that’s one heck of a move in the middle of the field. And have we talked about the Panthers offensive line recently? We should. Because that’s the longest pass completion in Carolina postseason history and it happened because that o-line gave Newton enough time to see down the field.
Ted Ginn’s 30-Yd Punt Return Set Up the Game’s First TD
Vintage Ted Ginn.
The Carolina wide receiver set up his own touchdown with a 30-plus yard punt return late in the first quarter. It looked like college-era Ginn. No, seriously.
He zigged-, he zagged. He set social media on fire. Check out this touchdown:
Ted Ginn Burns Former Team with Across-the-Field TD t.co/sOLTewGSrw
Panthers up 10-0 at home.
Game Preview
Brace yourselves. Points are coming.
The Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers, the top two scoring teams in the league, face off on Sunday night in the NFC Championship Game in a matchup that pits two very similar teams up against each other.
Of course, the spotlight will shine brightest on each team’s respective quarterback. Cam Newton and Carson Palmer are each playing in their first-ever conference championship and are making history along the way; the first former Heisman winners to every face off in an NFC title game.
But while there’s plenty to talk about when it comes to each squad’s offense, the key matchup may actually be the Cardinals wide receiving corps against Carolina’s secondary. Carson Palmer is still dealing with a right index finger issue and the Panthers secondary is second in yards per attempt, first in opponent passer rating and had a league-high 24 interceptions. Palmer didn’t always look perfect in Arizona’s OT win over the Green Bay Packers last week, so it will be interesting to see how he deals with the defensive pressure.
The Panthers come into the game as 3-point favorites with the over/under set at 47.5 points according to OdddsShark.
Kickoff is slated for 6:40 p.m. ET and is being broadcast on FOX.