The Carolina game plan was half right. They went for a more vanilla offensive plan with the hope of protecting the ball in a lower scoring affair, confident that Denver's offense would be held in check. They were correct about the last part, as Denver's offense wasn't lighting it up by any means. The rest of the plan probably would have worked as well, had there not been such poor execution. Receivers bobbling the ball, butter finger ball carriers. Denver was beatable. Carolina made critical errors. The "any given Sunday" effect.
But I still fault the offensive game plan for not making adjustments, and for apparently deciding to treat Ware/Miller like any other tandem of pass rushers. In the game against Houston, they negated the best end in the league, JJ Watt, so it's curious that they went so vanilla in the Super Bowl.
As for Cam Newton, it's funny because his style of play gets criticized no matter what. In his first few years in the NFL he was criticized for running too much and not being an effective pocket passer. This year he really emerged as a true dual threat, as his pocket passing improved considerably. That improvement cannot be overstated when you consider the corps of nobody receivers he had to work with. But then he begins to be criticized for abandoning the run and trying to force plays from the pocket. He still prefers to run it himself, so failing to do so in the Super Bowl is something I'd lay at the foot of coaching more than him.
The controversy surrounding him is an interesting look at how the media really are just a bunch of jackals who enjoy wielding their "we made you, and we can destroy you too" power over people. They've been heaping criticism on him for not falling on the ball when he fumbled, yet if he'd done so and came out from under that dog pile with a broken leg they'd be heaping criticism on him for a "Superman" complex and how a smart QB would have known to back off and get a better angle on the ball. Drew Brees nearly ruined his career in a similar situation, so I can't really fault Newton for not falling on it.