Panthers stars Luke Kuechly and Josh Norman spent time Thursday making sure everyone knows that the Panthers defense isn’t overconfident about facing off with Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense as they make their way to Super Bowl 50.
That’s left it to the Broncos to discuss their offensive issues over the course of the season and neither Manning nor head coach Gary Kubiak has shied away from doing that. Both were blunt with Kubiak saying simply that the offense needs to play better and Manning saying “our defense has gotten us to this point.” The quarterback said that the Broncos can’t count on the defense doing all the heavy lifting against Carolina.
“All of us offensive guys want to carry our weight and not take the defense for granted,” Manning said, via the Charlotte Observer. “We are working hard to prepare, but we have a tremendous challenge in front of us. There’s no question that we can improve and that we would like to improve. I assure you our effort and will to prepare is certainly there.”
There is room for improvement, obviously, but it seems unlikely that there will be a dramatic difference in the Broncos offense a week from Sunday from the one we’ve seen all season. If it remains the largely turnover free one from the last two weeks, however, that may be enough to make the defense’s effort stand up once again.