Every year, Americans all over the country gather their families and friends together to watch the biggest sporting event of the year, the Super Bowl. Football fans indulge themselves with pounds of snacks as they watch to see which team will come out on top. This year was no different as the Denver Broncos took on the Carolina Panthers. Even though the game itself was low-scoring, it was still one of the most memorable Super Bowls of all time.

The main focuses of this year’s Super Bowl were the two quarterbacks: Peyton Manning of the Broncos and Cam Newton of the Panthers. Manning was the older, seasoned veteran who many consider as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. However, considering the horrid year he was having, skeptics wondered if he was past his prime and it was time for him to retire. Newton, on the other hand, was the young, confident, and up-and-coming star who threw, ran and dabbed his way to superstardom. He had never been to the Super Bowl before, so a win in the big game would solidify the 2015 NFL MVP’s status as an elite player. However, it was the defenses of both teams that made the most impact on this game.

With the disappointing season that Manning had this year, it was Denver’s stout defense that had been given the responsibility of carrying the team to the Super Bowl. With stars all over the depth chart such as Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, and Danny Trevathan, Denver allowed the least amount of yards in the whole NFL and ranked 4th in the league in least amount of points per game allowed. Carolina was no different, being led by two young stars in Luke Kuechly and Josh Norman, as well arguably the best defensive line in the league. The Panthers’ defense had the most amount of interceptions out of any team in the NFL. Considering how dominant the two defenses had been all year, many expected this game to be a low-scoring affair.

Once the game started, Denver came out firing on all cylinders, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Their tenacious pass rush forced Cam Newton to throw inaccurate passes and stopped him from scrambling in the pocket, which is one of the abilities that won him the MVP award. In all, the Broncos sacked Newton a total of 7 times, 4.5 of which coming from Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware. The Broncos did not allow a single passing touchdown the whole game; the only touchdown the Panthers had came off of a 1 yard run by Jonathan Stewart.

Carolina, while not as dominant as Denver, had a solid game of their own, sacking Peyton Manning 5 times and not allowing a passing touchdown as well. Defensive end Kony Ealy ended up with 3.5 of those sacks, as well as an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. However, Ealy’s spectacular performance alone was not enough to stop Denver. Running back C.J. Anderson ran for 90 yards and a touchdown, while through the air Emmanuel Sanders caught 6 passes for 83 yards. Carolina failed to match these stats, as Jonathan Stewart only ran for 29 yards all game. They had more yards through the air than Denver, getting 265 compared to Denver’s measly 141, but Denver’s pass rush stopped them from turning those yards into points. The Broncos ended up winning the game 24-10, with the Super Bowl MVP award going to Von Miller.

Once the game ended, the media speculated on if Peyton Manning would be going out on top and announcing his retirement after the game. However, Manning said that he hadn’t made a decision yet. “I’ll take some time to reflect. I’ve got a couple of priorities first. I want to go kiss my wife and my kids. I want to go hug my family.” Manning told CBS reporter Tracy Wolfson. If Manning does indeed have more in him, it will be interesting to see how he does next year at age 40. However, if he decides to end his career this offseason, there really is no better way than to end up on top.