by staff writer Ronan Johns

After an amazing and exciting NFL football season, America was ready for the playoffs — and Super Bowl 50, held here in the Bay Area’s own Levi Stadium!

It was a long road leading up to the Super Bowl. For the AFC Wild Card it was the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Houston Texans; the Chiefs blew the Texans 30-0. The other AFC Wild Card game was the exciting rivalry matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals. In a surprise, the Steelers beat the Bengals 18-16.

Now let’s go to the NFC Wild Card game: It was the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Minnesota Vikings in the -6 degree cold Minnesota stadium. The Seahawks won by a lucky missed field goal from the Vikings kicker, Blair Walsh, in the last second of the game. The other NFC Wild Card game was the Washington Redskins vs. the Green Bay Packers. It was an exciting game in the first half, but in the second half Aaron Rodgers was on his game so the Green Bay Packers ended up winning 35-18.

The winners of the Wild Cards went on to play the teams that got first-round playoff berths. The matchups in the AFC were the Chiefs vs. the New England Patriots, and the Denver Broncos vs. the Steelers. Alex Smith and his Chiefs had just come off of a blowout game, and tried their hardest to beat the Patriots, but lost. The Steelers came very close to going to another AFC championship game, but ultimately failed to beat the Broncos. Score: 23-16.

In the NFC, the Cardinals vs. Packers game was the most exciting football game I have ever seen! The Packers were down by 7 with no time left on the clock, and they converted for the touchdown from long. Sadly, their luck was over, and they lost in overtime, so the Cardinals moved on to the next round in the playoffs. The other NFC Game matched the number-one Panthers against the Seahawks. The Seahawks were blown out in the first half but came back close in the 2nd half. Not close enough, however; they ended up losing 24-31, so the Panthers advanced to the NFC championship.

Now it was time for the Conference Championships. The AFC conference championship was Patriots vs. Broncos. The Patriots were about to tie the game at the last second but missed the 2-point conversion, so the Broncos won the game 20-18. The NFC championship was the Panthers vs. Cardinals. The Panthers had an easy win as they beat the Cardinals 49-15.

Now came what everybody was waiting for: The Super Bowl!

The 50th Super Bowl matchup pitted the Broncos vs. the Panthers. At the beginning, Steph Curry from the Golden State Warriors got to bang on the big drum for good luck for the Panthers because Steph is from North Carolina. They also called up all the Super Bowl MVPs from all of the Super Bowls.

The first half, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton struggled with a lot of sacks, but managed to keep the score close so that by the end of the half they were only down by 6. The halftime show was great with Coldplay, Beyonce, and Bruno Mars. The Second Half was very exciting but the Panthers struggled a lot and only got a field goal, so the Broncos ended up winning the game 24-10.