Both the Ravens and 49ers offenses enter Super Bowl XLVII
very hot as the Ravens have scored 90 points in three games in the postseason
while the 49ers have scored 73 in two.
Ravens QB
Joe Flacco will be playing in his first Super Bowl in his fifth year in the
league. Flacco threw for 3,813 yards in
the regular season while throwing for 22 TDs and 10 Ints. In the 2013
postseason, Flacco has been close to perfect throwing for 853 yards and 8 TDs
but most importantly no Ints. The Ravens have a balanced offense as they have
one of the league’s best running backs in the backfield in Ray Rice. Rice had
his third straight 1,000-yard season rushing for 1,143 yards and 9 touchdowns
in the regular season. Where Rice is most effective is in between the offensive
line because with him being 5ft 8in, opposing defense have had trouble finding
him on running plays. The Ravens receiving core is made up of basically four
guys. WR Anquan Boldin leads the group as he had 65 catches for 921 yards and
four touchdowns in the regular season. WR Torrey Smith is one of the NFL’s most
dangerous receivers as he is a deep threat every play but does have games where
he goes without a reception. He had 49 catches for 855 yards and 8 touchdowns.
Smith averaged 17.4 yards per catch so look for Flacco to try to get Smith
early on in the game and get an early score.
TE Dennis Pitta has become Flacco’s safe target this season catching 61
balls for 669 yards and 7 touchdowns. The 49ers defense tends to blitz often so
look for Flacco to throw a couple screen passes to Rice on Sunday. If Flacco
doesn’t have an open receiver, he tends to throw to Rice short and did
throughout the season as Rice had 61 catches this season.
Heading
into Week 11 of the regular season, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh made the gutsy
decision to start QB Colin Kaepernick over QB Alex Smith and since then
Kaepernick has flourished. Kaepernick threw for 1,814 yards and 10 touchdowns
but also rushed for 415 yards and 5 touchdowns. The 49ers offense has changed a
little since Kaepernick has been named starter as they have started to run the
pistol offense, which Kaepernick ran at Nevada. Kaepernick has been efficient
this postseason and had the game of his life in the Divisional Playoffs against
the Packers when he threw 263 yards and two touchdowns but also rushed for 181
yards and touchdowns. With all of the focus on Kaepernick, opposing defense
forget that the 49ers still heavily rely on RB Frank Gore. Gore is not a
running back that will excite you with his explosiveness because he is a
grinder. Gore love contact and going head to head with Ravens LB’s Ray Lewis
and Terrell Suggs will be fun to watch. He finished 10th in the
league in rushing with 1,214 yards and 8 touchdowns. In his 4th year
in the league, 49ers WR Michael Crabtree is finally playing to the level that
49ers fans expected. He hauled in 85 balls for 1,105 yards and 9 touchdowns
this season and has started to have great chemistry with Kaepernick. TE Vernon
Davis is one of the best league’s tight ends but has not been given the ball a
lot this season. He finally got the targets that he deserved last week and
caught 5 catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. The problem with Davis is that
there are games when Davis has 100+ yards and a touchdown but also has games
where he has one catch for four yards. The 49ers do not have a clear number two
wide receiver but do have WR’s Mario Manningham and Randy Moss who both have
Super Bowl experience. If you recall, Manningham made the catch of the year
last year as he kept the drive going that allowed the Giants to win the Super
Bowl.
images were used from bleacherreport.com and sfgate.com
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