Super Bowl VIII featured Indianapolis Colts 31 defense vs. Carolina’s high powered offense so something had to give. The colts had the ball first and after a 30 yard Marc Mariani return drove 58 yards in 7 plays but it was Carolina’s defense rising to the occasion stuffing a Ben Roethlisberger’s sneak on 4th and goal to end the drive. Peyton Manning came out firing leading a 12 play 99 yard drive capped with a 10 yard hitch to Jacob Tamme to put Carolina up 7-0 with 4:50 left in the first quarter. Indy came right back going 70 yards in 10 plays with Roethlisberger scoring on a sneak on the last play of the first quarter to tie the game at 7. 

Manning lead the Panthers down the field going 79 yards in 10 plays and hit Antonio Gates for the final 7 yards and a 14-7 lead with 9:36 left in the half. The Colts would go three and out and Carolina would drive 72 yards in 9 plays mainly on the legs of Rashad Mendenhall and a big 23 yard pass on 3rd and 1 from Manning to Miles Austin to make it 21-7 with 3:45 left in the half. After a punt by each team Carolina’s defense would make its second big play of the game stripping LeSean McCoy on his own 22 and would drive the 22 yards in 3 plays with Manning hitting Tamme with Manning’s 4th TD pass and Tamme’s second TD catch of the day and a 28-7 lead into the locker room. 

The Colts tried an outside kick to start the second half but Carolina recovered and turned it into a Matt Bryant 33 field goal and a 31-7 lead with 10:51 left in the third. Indy responded quickly going 72 yards in 8 plays and only took 3 minutes off the clock as Roethlisberger hit Brandon LaFell from 11 yards out to cut the lead to 31-14 with 7:38 left in the third. Another onside kick left Carolina in good field position at the Indy 45 and Manning converted a pass to Kleinsasser to make it 38-14 with 3:44 left in the third. Osi Umenyiora then put the finishing touches on the game with a sack and fumble to set Carolina up at the 26. Rashard Mendenhall capped the short drive form 9 yards out to make it 45-21 after three quarters. 

Marc Mariani returned the kickoff 72 yards to set up a Roethlisberger to Anthony Fasano score to cut it to 45-24 with 14:02 left in the game. From there both defenses held and the final was 45-24 Carolina. 

Carolina out gained the Colts 401-291 and had a 29-18 first down edge. Peyton Manning took home MVP honors completing 26 of 35 passes for 272 yards and 5 TD’s. Miles Austin hauled in 8 balls for 105 yards and Jacob Tamme caught 7 balls and scored twice. Rashard Mendenhall and Brandon Jacobs combined for 134 yards in the win. The Colts were lead by Roethlisberger’s 21 for 39 for 228 yards and 2 TD passes. Kenny Britt chiped in with 3 catches for 70 yards.