Denver Broncos: Emmanuel Sanders shows his star, importance on big stage
With Demaryius Thomas locked up in Josh Norman‘s coverage in Super Bowl 50, the Denver Broncos needed someone to step up in the passing game to help the aging Peyton Manning‘s powerless ducks turn into completions. As usual, that hero was Emmanuel Sanders, who came up big for the umpteenth time in the 2015-16 season.
The story of the Denver Broncos 24-10 win in the Super Bowl undoubtedly focuses on the elite edge rushing duo of DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller, which might be the greatest in the history of the game, but there are a few players on offense who deserve credit in the victory. One of those top performers is Emmanuel Sanders, who turned eight targets into six receptions for 83 yards.
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What makes Sanders’s game all the more important is the fact that nobody else on the Broncos did anything in the passing game. The team’s second-leading pass-catcher was running back C.J. Anderson, who turned four dump-offs into just ten yards. Meanwhile, depth receiver Andre Caldwell hauled in a 22-yard reception on the team’s first drive, and that wide-open catch made him the Broncos second-leading receiver in terms of yardage.
Since Demaryius Thomas could muster just one catch for eight yards and a defensive holding penalty in the end zone against Norman on six targets, Denver needed someone to move the chains. Sanders was that guy, because, once again, whenever the Broncos needed a first down, he was there.
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Yes, Sanders had the easy matchup against Robert McClain on the outside, whereas Thomas was locked up with Norman and faced a barrage of low-quality targets from Peyton Manning, but he deserves praise for showing off his elite quickness and tools.
Sanders regularly got himself open, consistently getting inside and setting up the opposing cornerback expertly. The Panthers didn’t have an answer to the one receiver they should have game-planned against the most, and it showed up on the stat sheet. Outside of maybe Anderson, Sanders was the best player on offense, and he could have flat-out dominated the game if targeted more often.
Although Thomas led the Broncos with 105 receptions for over 1,300 yards last season, Sanders was easily the Broncos most consistent player on a game-to-game and snap-to-snap basis. There are those who believe Sanders is the better receiver, and they must have felt vindicated after watching Sanders steadily catch five or six passes in every playoff game as the team’s safest offensive performer, whereas Thomas largely flopped in these postseason games.
So hat’s off to Sanders, who pulled a 76/1,135/6 line and has proven to be more than just a stroke of genius as a free agent signing by ace exec John Elway. Sanders led the Broncos with 14.9 yards per reception as the team’s clear big-play threat, and he doubled as a safe third-down option, showing off an enviable blend of quickness, agility, long speed, and route-running savvy.
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No matter who starts at quarterback for the Broncos next season, they will have an elite wide receiver duo, and even in the games Thomas is shut down or frustrating fans with drops, that QB can know that he has an uncoverable mis-match maker. It’s amazing to think how far Sanders has come from his days as the undervalued Pittsburgh Steelers receiver behind Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown to a centerpiece player on the Super Bowl champions.