Bonsignore: D is for Denver -- and disrespected no more

SAN FRANCISCO — It’s fuy how far a little bit of disrespect can get a team. Or the hand the rest of the world can play in lifting a dominant defense to levels rarely before seen in Super Bowl history.

Looking back now, it’s crazy to think how naive we all were to look right through the Denver Broncos defense as we peered at the charisma and dominance of Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.

And in the process, unknowingly help set the trap that backed the Panthers so deep into a coer at Levi’s Stadium not even a transformational talent like Newton could figure out an escape route.

It was a trap built by the fuel and motivation of insult — real or imagined — laid out with meticulousness of a NASA engineer and carried out with the anger and sco of a proud group of Broncos who spent the days leading up to Super Bowl 50 feeling overlooked, neglected and taken for granted.

At least that’s the indignant narrative they concocted for themselves, then used as the diving board to stick a defensive performance for the ages in a 24-10 win at Super Bowl 50, in which they locked down the highest-scoring offense in the National Football League tighter than the U.S. Mint.

“We were ready for this game, man,” Broncos safety Darian Stewart said. “The fuel was everyone saying that Carolina was going to dog us. We wanted to come out here and show y’all. Wake you all up, man. We did that.”

Guilty as charged.

It was a common theme while navigating through the maze of the postgame interview area Sunday night. The words “disrespected,” “overlooked” and “taken for granted” constantly flowed from the Broncos’ lips. It became their motive to draw up and carry out a vicious game plan that left the NFL’s Most Valuable Player dazed, confused and defeated.

The Super Bowl 50 stage was set up almost exclusively for Newton to launch himself into another orbit. And it was Newton who grabbed our attention most as kickoff approached.

We spent the previous 18 weeks unable to take our eyes off the charismatic quarterback. His talent was breathtaking. His personality and passion for the game a lightning rod for praise and sco.

Good or bad, loved or disliked, Newton was the storyline of Super Bowl 50.

It was — for all the wrong reasons.

The script rewrite came courtesy of a defensive performance as good as any we’ve ever seen in the Super Bowl, devised by Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and then executed by Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Malik Jackson and so many others.

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Miller and Ware combined for 4.5 sacks of Newton, relentlessly attacking off the edges to create pressure and havoc and build a wall around him. The Broncos sacked Newton seven times, but even when they didn’t get to him they made him consistently throw from small, pressurized pockets.

Newton didn’t respond well, struggling to complete 18 of 41 passes for 265 yards.

The Panthers never found a rhythm or comfort zone as a result.

“The emphasis was to play the type of defense we’ve been playing all year long. Let Demarcus (Ware) rush, let Malik (Jackson) rush, (Derek) Wolfe, let all those guys be great,” Super Bowl MVP Von Miller said. “Of course we spied one or two or three times max, but for the most part, we just played our game.”

Part of the catalyst was the opinion of outsiders that the Broncos were the sideshow to Newton and the Panthers.

“The media, today, is a great thing,” Miller said coyly. “They do an incredible job of promoting the Super Bowl. Not only the Super Bowl, but the games and the weeks leading up to the games. Hats off to the media for a well-played campaign for the Super Bowl.”

Again, guilty as charged.

We wrote almost inevitably how Newton would do to the Broncos what so many other quarterbacks couldn’t this year. Or how the gameplan Phillips drew up against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game would not work against a quarterback like Newton, who can beat you with his arms and legs.

Looking back, it’s almost laughable some of us dismissed what the Broncos did against Brady as simply a favorable matchup between their athletic defense and Brady’s lack of mobility.

We now know it went so much deeper than just that.

“To get to the Super Bowl, you have to beat great teams, that’s the nature of the National Football League,” Miller said. “Every team in the playoffs has that ability of going to the Super Bowl. There was Super Bowl-caliber teams last week and there was Super Bowl-caliber teams this week. That’s why we’re playing in the Super Bowl. All the teams are great. We just had to play our defense.”

They did exactly that in Super Bowl 50.

Real or imagined, it might have come with a helping hand of some decidedly skeptical outsiders.

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