It looks like John Elway’s gamble on his former teammate Gary Kubiak paid off. The Denver Broncos, under the leadership of head coach Gary Kubiak, dominated the Carolina Panthers 24 – 10 to win Super Bowl 50. When asked if he ever envisioned winning a Super Bowl having not reached the big game during his tenure as head coach of the Texans (2006–2013) he said, “Yeah, in my wildest imagination, I did. I knew I wanted to keep coaching. I felt like I was a good football coach. Those things happen in football, and I got very fortunate to get an opportunity in Baltimore [as offensive coordinator last season], which was very special to me, and it helped me as I ended up here. So life is fair.”
What a way to end a first year as a head coach of your former franchise. Kubiak joins Tom Flores and Mike Ditka as the third person to win a Super Bowl as the head coach for the team he played for. He made his own dent in history winning a Super Bowl for a team he also played for a Super Bowl title for. Kubiak didn’t do it by himself and he knows it having said, “I came to a really good football team. I know that. We asked them to make some concessions along the way. We were going to be a different type of team. We’re very young upfront offensively, so we were going to be built a little bit different. We knew defensively, that was the strength of our team. We had to teach our guys that we were going to win a little bit different way and those types of things.”
Kubiak wanted to build up the Broncos team around defense; and in the end, spectacular defense played a major hand in securing the win. Kubiak, who was the former Houston Texans head coach, pulled in Wade Phillips who served as the defensive coordinator and served as interim head coach of the Texans and together they were able to win it all. There was actually a host of Texans alumni who were a part of the winning team. Coaching Staff: Gary Kubiak, Wade Phillips, Rick Dennison, Reggie Herring, Greg Knapp, Bill Kollar, and Brian Pariani; Former players: Owen Daniels, James Ferentz, Ryan Harris, Shiloh Keo, and Antonio Smith.
Former Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller was crowned the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl 50. Miller had 2 ½ sacks that forced two fumbles which both resulted in a touchdown, and six tackles. DeMarcus Ware had a huge night with four QB hits, 2 sacks, and 2 tackles for losses. He also delivered a number of blows to Panthers QB Cam Newton. With 134.5 career sacks, DeMarcus Ware is ranked 11th in league history and at age 33, still a force to be reckoned with. CJ Anderson, who was signed as an undrafted free agent, ran 2 yards for a touchdown with minutes left in the 4th quarter, sealing the Panthers fate.
The game came down to one on one efforts and the Denver Broncos shined.