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The Denver Broncos won the AFC Championship Game and paid off as betting underdogs on Sunday, and they'll get a chance to record another upset in two weeks when they take on the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.
The Broncos opened as 3.5-point betting underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com for Super Bowl 50 against the Panthers after both teams earned victories in their respective conference championship games on Sunday — but in very different ways.
Denver edged the New England Patriots 20-18 as a 3-point home betting underdog in the AFC title game, holding off a second-half rally by Tom Brady and the Pats. The Broncos scored 17 of their 20 points in the first half on Sunday, getting a field goal in the fourth quarter and holding on to that lead to punch their ticket to Super Bowl 50.
Peyton Manning, potentially making his final playoff run, threw for 176 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Broncos on Sunday while avoiding any interceptions. The Denver defense then did the rest of the work in the AFC title game, including picking off Brady twice.
The Panthers, meanwhile, were 3-point home betting favorites against the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday and made a mockery of that spread, winning a 49-15 laugher as quarterback Cam Newton accounted for four touchdowns — two through the air and two on the ground.
Newton threw for 335 yards and rushed for 47 yards on the day.
Newton and the high-powered Panthers have now turned in four OVER results in their past five games according to the OddsShark NFL Database, and will be up against a strong Broncos defense that has now turned in five UNDER results in its past seven outings.
The total for Super Bowl 50 opened at 45.5 points at the sportsbooks on Sunday night.
The first career meeting between Manning and Newton was a 36-14 win for the Broncos in November 2012, with Manning throwing for 301 yards and a touchdown on the day and Newton passing for 241 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Denver was a 3.5-point road favorite at the sportsbooks for that contest and easily covered the posted spread.
Super Bowl 50 Betting Line
Carolina -3.5 vs Denver