The 47th Super Bowl, like many recently, delivered high drama until the final whistle. Two teams that ravaged through the playoffs and put on a show for billions of viewers Sunday. Two head coaches and brothers (John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh) finally met in this matchup for the ages.
John’s Baltimore Ravens was one veiled by much doubt and uncertainty from fans and media for limping into the post-season, barely beating out the Cincinnati Bengals for the AFC North. An announcement prior to their Wild Card game surely jolted Baltimore: LB Ray Lewis’s retirement at season’s end.
Jim’s San Francisco 49ers cruised by nearly equal opponents Green Bay and Atlanta to make their first Super Bowl trip since the 1994-1995 season in WR Jerry Rice’s heyday. Their systematic offense, led by sophomore stud QB Colin Kaepernick tortured defenses with his unpredictable and mobile style of play.
The matchup in New Orleans’ Mercedes-Benz Super Dome set to be one of high-stakes for the Ravens while a chance to kick-start a new dynasty for the 49ers.
Besides commercials and halftime music performances,
the most entertaining portion of the game came with 13 minutes left in the 3rd quarter–the infamous Super Dome black out. Lights unexpectedly shut off during play. For 35 minutes, the world waited (and tweeted) to see what was going on until lights came back on.
So did the 49ers. Down 28-6 before the blackout, Kaepernick orchestrated punch after punch with hot throws and stealthy runs to give the Niners a 23-3 run. The game was now 31-29 Ravens until a Justin Tucker field goal made it 34-29. The Niners were given an intentional safety by the Ravens’ punter, and then came the final moments. A kickoff to end regulation had the Ravens special teams shut down Ted Ginn Jr. and his blockers to end the game, 34-31.
The Ravens reclaimed their Super Bowl title, the first since the 2000 season when their historic defense proved legendary. However, their aging defenders allowed 487 total yards against San Francisco.
QB Joe Flacco won MVP honors, going 22-33 with 3 TD passes and zero interceptions. In fact, he threw zero interceptions all post-season.
The NFL will now recollect itself and start scouting for the next crop of players come combine time in late February, leading up to the 2013 NFL Draft in late April.