This past Super Bowl Sunday featuring the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers may have been a milestone as the game celebrated its 50^th birthday, but overall, Super Bowl 50 was far from super.

The underdog Broncos captured their third title, defeating the Panthers 24-10 in one of the more lackluster Super Bowls of all time.

Broncos QB Peyton Manning locked up his second Super Bowl ring, and now all signs point towards the soon-to-be 40 year-old calling it quits.

The game was more of a defensive showdown, which would tend to be more appealing to the hardcore football fans as opposed to the casual fans (who account for a healthy chunk the Super Bowl’s massive 100-plus million audience.).

This Super Bowl Sunday – held at Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif. – had a promising start, with the NFL inviting the living 43 Super Bowl MVPs out onto the field (or via video, in the cases of Bart Starr and Chuck Howley) for a pregame ceremony.

The Armed Forces Chorus then sang “America the Beautiful,” and Lady Gaga belted out a passionate rendition of our national anthem, followed by a fly-over.

And that right there was just about when the fun ended.

This was an ugly game chocked full of drops, fumbles, sacks, a couple of interceptions, a missed field goal, dismal offense, shaky officiating early on, and an unbelievably lazy effort by Carolina QB Cam Newton late in the game.

This one was just simply boring.

The Broncos jumped out to an early 10-0 lead within the first ten minutes of the game, as Denver linebacker (and Super Bowl 50 MVP) Von Miller strip-sacked Newton, leading to a scoop-and-score by Malik Jackson.

Just two plays prior to that big fumble came a crucial play: Newton hooked up with receiver Jerricho Cotchery for what sure looked like a 20-plus yard pick-up, but the play was ruled incomplete. The replay challenge confirmed the call, leaving fans to wonder what actually constitutes a catch nowadays.

The Panthers eventually responded early in the second quarter, when Newton led a 73-yard touchdown drive capped off Jonathan Stewart leaping over the pile at the line of scrimmage for a short rush across the goal line.

Denver kicked another field goal a few minutes later, thanks to good field position off Jordan Norwood’s 61-yard punt return, which set the record as the longest punt return in Super Bowl history.

The third quarter was also quiet; Carolina’s Graham Gano shanked a 44-yard field goal on their opening drive, and Denver added another field goal, carrying a 16-7 lead into the fourth.

Just a minute and a half into the fourth quarter, Kony Ealy sacked Manning and recovered the fumble, giving Carolina a big opportunity, but they only salvaged a field goal, cutting the Broncos lead to 6.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Panthers had what looked to be one of their last chances to march down the field and take the lead. But with 4:16 to go in the game, Miller got to Newton again, forcing another costly fumble.

Here, Newton showed his true colors as the biggest goat of the game – and no, not G.O.A.T. as in ‘greatest of all time.’

At first, it looked like Newton was going down to the turf to grab the loose ball. But as soon as Newton saw Denver’s DeMarcus Ware get a hand on the ball on the ground, he inexplicably pulled up and literally backed away from the play.

In the biggest game of the year, in their last chance to drive down the field and take the lead, Cam Newton was more worried about keeping his uniform clean and staying pain-free after the game instead of diving down to the ground and at least putting up a fight for the ball, you know, like the teach you from the first day you strap on the pads as a kid.

While he was at it, he might as well have just ran off the field, grabbed the Vince Lombardi Trophy and brought it back to present to the Broncos.

Until Newton finds his way back into a Super Bowl and redeems himself, that will be the everlasting image in many fans’ heads.

Denver’s ensuing touchdown and two-point conversion sealed the deal.

Manning finished 13-23, 0 TD/1 INT, 141 yards; according to SBNation.com, the Broncos’ 194 net yards of offense is the lowest offensive output by a Super Bowl winner. Denver only managed one conversion on 14 third down attempts.

Newton was 18-41, 0 TD/1 INT, 265 yards and was also sacked six times by Denver’s ferocious defense.

According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, this was only the third Super Bowl in history in which neither quarterback threw for a touchdown pass.

Here at AIC, while fun was had by all who attended The Stinger Pub’s Super Bowl party (and wing eating contest), many agreed with the national buzz that this was not the one best Super Bowl Sundays of all time.

AIC senior Mike Forrest was very disappointed with the game and all the festivities.

“This was definitely one of the more forgettable Super Bowl experiences I’ve ever had,” said Forrest. “The game itself was bad. If it weren’t for the fact that Peyton Manning solidified his place as one of the greatest to ever play the game, I probably would have slept through it.”

AIC student Steven Neptune also chimed in, declaring Super Bowl 50 “the most boring Super Bowl ever!”

Not only was the game a dud, the halftime show – headlined by Coldplay and crashed by Bruno Mars and Beyonce – was panned by many.

“When the halftime show came on, I couldn’t hit my mute button fast enough,” noted Forrest. “Is Coldplay even relevant anymore? And didn’t we just see Beyonce and Bruno?”

Chris Chase of FOX Sports wrote that the Coldplay halftime show “was as boring as the 30 minutes of football that preceded it… It was a musical snooze.” He also referred to their performance as “inexplicable, indecipherable and unnecessary.” Robert Bianco of USA Today tended to agree, noting that Beyonce and Bruno Mars stole (and somewhat saved) the show.

You’ll be hard-pressed to single out the best commercials, too; some took social media by storm (Doritos, the wiener dogs dressed in hot dog costumes, ‘puppy monkey baby’ to name a few) but overall, the ads with their $5 million price tags seemed just average.

Let’s all just hope Super Bowl LI next year is just watchable.