Here is why the Panthers won’t beat the Broncos opening night.

Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera wasn’t whistling Dixie when he expressed concerned about having to start the NFL season with a Super Bowl rematch against the Broncos in Denver Thursday night. He knows the Super Bowl champs are a different team with different personnel, which will make it harder on the Cats to figure them out.

Playing at home can never be minimized in the NFL. Home teams, especially in an emotional game, have an immense advantage. And this one will start with the Broncos raising a Super Bowl banner after having given out rings to all of the players. That will make everyone wearing orange that night super fired up to prove it was the defense and not Peyton Manning that beat the Panthers last February.

And Cam Newton has to overcome his dismal career record against Denver. He has played the Broncos twice, lost twice and his statistics have been horrendous. He has thrown two touchdown passes and been intercepted three times by the Orange Crush defense. Newton has been sacked 13 times and his total quarterback rating in both games has been a dismal 11.

Denver reached the Super Bowl and won with its defense. And though the Broncos have lost a couple of key players, they still have the highest-rated unit in the NFL coming into the season. Any time Von Miller is in your grill, which he will be with Newton, that harasses the opposing offense. And Cam comes in with enormous pressure on him this year to erase the one game that ended his MVP season.

The Peyton Manning factor is negligible. It was a wonderful way to end his Hall of Fame career but Manning was a shadow of his former self at the end. Denver’s new quarterback is Trevor Siemian, a 7th round draft pick from Northwestern in his second year as a pro. Siemian does not have great statistics dating all the way back to college, but John Elway likes what he sees in him. And like Manning did not have too much last year, neither does his replacement.

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