Chris Harris: Broncos 'deserve more credit' ahead of Super Bowl

By Zach Kruse

Despite a pair of wins over the reigning champion New England Patriots this season, the Denver Broncos will still enter Super Bowl 50 as an underdog to likely MVP Cam Newton and the 17-1 Carolina Panthers.

Are the Broncos being undersold?

“We beat the champs twice,” cornerback Chris Harris said Monday night,via NFL.com “Nobody cared, I guess. … I do feel like we deserve more credit.”

The Broncos beat the Patriots in overtime to end November, and then doubled down on the champs by sending Tom Brady and Bill Belichick home in the AFC Championship Game. Carolina is the darling of the league, with Newton producing a rare season and the Panthers rolling through the NFC playoffs. But the Broncos were the team that ended New England’s bid for back-to-back Super Bowls.

Denver also beat the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers on the way to Santa Clara this season. The Broncos are now 9-2 against playoff teams this season. Few clubs were more battle-tested, even if Carolina arrived in the Bay Area with just a single loss in 2015.

Despite being the No. 1 seed in the AFC, the Broncos have been riding the “underdog” role all postseason.

“Go ahead. We feed off of that,” Broncos safety T.J. Ward said after the AFC title game win over New England, via NFL.com. “Keep us as the underdog (against) whoever wins (the NFC Championship). Tell us how bad we are and how we can’t cover and stop ‘this person,’ and I bet we win the Super Bowl.”

The Panthers are currently listed as a 6-point favorites over the Broncos for Super Bowl 50.

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