It's odd watching the games from Berlin, Germany - they start at 2:30 am, and I had to turn in at the end of the first half. The Broncos were down 17-7, I was pretty sure my best bet of the week (Broncos +3) was dead and I'd find out the bad news in the morning. Moreover, I told people to sit Cam Newton for Derek Carr and Matt Ryan even, and Newton had a rushing and passing TD in the first half. If that weren't bad enough, I had faded Kelvin Benjamin in all my leagues, believing he hadn't necessarily retained his role as the team's top receiver.

Of course, the Broncos covered and won outright, C.J. Anderson of whom I have a few shares went off and Newton's final tally was relatively modest. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come in 2016.

• Newton's performance (194 yd. 1 TD, 1  INT, 54 ru. yd. 1 TD) on the road against arguably the league's best defense was encouraging. If that's his floor, he was more than deserving of the top pick among QBs, and we ("experts") were probably wrong to wait on him into the fifth round in many cases. The downside is all the hits he takes - many of which were to the head (and not all of which were called.) I don't know if the officials disrespect Newton because they don't like his style, or they see a 6-5, 250-pound power runner and simply treat him like he's a running back. But he's a bigger risk than say Drew Brees or the smaller and more elusive Russell Wilson.

• Benjamin looked like himself again, down to the dropped passes. Still, Newton looked mostly for him and Greg Olsen, and all the talk of a spread-it-around offense seems meaningless now. Devin Funchess looks like an afterthought - at least based on this game.

• Jonathan Stewart is a good runner, but has zero upside without goal-line carries or receptions.

• Trevor Sieman looked adequate as a game manager, though he didn't attempt any deep throws. He was reasonably accurate and mostly made good decisions, including when to take off and gain yards on the ground. He might be a decent fit for a team with a good running game and elite defense.

• Anderson had a monster game, looking sharp as both a runner and a receiver. His less effective backup, rookie Devontae Booker, fumbled too. Should Anderson stay healthy, he'll be a top-five back. Think 280 carries and 50 catches minimum.

• Emmanuel Sanders caught five passes and Demaryius Thomas, Virgil Green and Anderson caught four each. There were no deep throws, and there won't be a ton of passing yards in this offense, but it looks like a pretty thin tree.

• Nice courage by Gary Kubiak going for it on 4th-and-1 in the fourth quarter near the goal line, down three. Many coaches would have kicked the FG there to tie the game. Winning a Super Bowl gives coaches more room to do the right thing.

• Even though Carolina could still have won the game, Ron Rivera should have gone for it on 4th-and-5 down four with 4:25 left rather than settling for the FG. What happened to Riverboat Ron? Maybe he goes for it had the Panthers won the Super Bowl instead.