The Denver Broncos didn’t respect Cam Newton and the Panthers passing attack.
Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said after Denver’s 24-10 victory over Carolina that their game plan was to make Newton beat them. They didn’t believe he was capable of accomplishing the task.
“We dared him to throw,” Harris said. “The game plan was can you throw on us? Me, (Aqib) Talib and (Bradley) Roby. We knew he couldn’t throw on us.”
Newton completed just 18-of-41 passes for 265 yards with an interception and was sacked six times by the ferocious Denver defense.
“We were too aggressive, man. He was tired of getting hit,” Harris said. “I watched the film all week, man. They did not play nobody on defense that plays like us. They had an easy schedule. We went through the gauntlet. We went (Tom) Brady twice. Big Ben (Roethlisberger) twice. Cam Newton... We knew if we got the lead it’s over. Our defense it too good.”
Panthers receivers Ted Ginn Jr., Devin Funchess and Corey Brown had difficulty getting open against the Broncos secondary, and even dropped several passes when they were open.
“After the first quarter, we got the sack/fumble for the score. He was nervous after that,” Harris said. "(How could you tell that?) His body language. Did y’all see him dance today? He didn’t dance.”
The Broncos heard all the people picking the Panthers to win this game. Instead, it just strengthened Denver’s resolve.
“You could feel it all week at practice that we were going to do something special. We knew it,” Harris said. “When 96 percent of the world said we were going to lose, we knew it was over. We knew we were going to win.”