Super Bowl 50 Live Open Thread

Nearly five months ago to the day, I wrote how the Rams entered the 2015 season without practical reason to hold any optimism. It required the suspension of rationality to be able to ignore Jeff Fisher's first three years with the Rams in order to seriously entertain any thought of reaching the postseason. And while we're six months away from coming around the backside of the carousel once more, today we get a glimpse at what's at the end of the tunnel if the Rams can ever get themselves right.

The Carolina Panthers, led by MVP Cam Newton, will take on the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning in Super Bowl 50 tonight.

For the Panthers, it has been a dream season. After what seemed like a nightmare entry into Week 1 by losing top WR Kelvin Benjamin from what was already a weak unit, Newton has gone on to have a season that has re-calibrated his career...and shook up the NFL traditional media throughout. What would otherwise be an easy target for poorly veiled racism and the lack of any real intellectual analysis has gotten swept away by the wins. The boatload of wins. Fifteen of them in the regular season and two more in the postseason thus far. It's sad that that's what it takes, but we're but simple creatures.

The Broncos, however, have been propelled to the Super Bowl chiefly on the back of their defense. The NFL's best defense by yards allowed and fourth in points allowed papered over a significantly less impressive season from Peyton Manning who missed seven starts in 2015, just the second time in his 14-year career he didn't start all 16 regular season games.

And so it is. The unwieldy ebullience of the Carolina Panthers against the quiet professionalism of the Denver Broncos. Cam Newton dabbing. Peyton tearing up.

The Super Bowl isn't just the pinnacle of the NFL and American entertainment. It's the culmination of all narratives. It answers every question. EVERY question...at least for the next six months.

So let's enjoy the revelry, the festivities that come with the answer that tonight will reveal.

And then let's gear up to see if the Rams can put themselves in position to be the one to provide an answer 12 months from now.