Entering Super Bowl XLVII, we knew that we were in for a
great game because of the background of both teams and the fact that it was the
matchup of the Harbaugh brothers, the first matchup in Super Bowl history where
opposing head coaches are brothers. Tonight’s game featured so much including a
kickoff return for a touchdown, a fake field goal attempt, a historic comeback
that fell short, and a stadiums’ power being shut off. After a wild four hour
game, the Baltimore Ravens won their second Vince Lombardi Trophy, beating the
San Francisco 49ers, 34-31.
The Ravens
got on the board first scoring on their first drive when QB Joe Flacco hit WR
Anquan Boldin for a 13-yard touchdown. The 49ers offense woke up on their next
drive as K David Akers nailed a 36-yard field goal. The Ravens held the lead
after the first quarter, 7-3 but the 49ers were driving early in the second
quarter until 49ers RB LaMichael James fumbled at the Ravens 25 yard line.
Flacco
again led the Ravens offense as he hit TE Dennis Pitta for a one-yard touchdown
to give the Ravens the 14-3 lead. On the first play of the next possession,
49ers QB Colin Kaepernick overthrew WR Randy Moss as Ravens S Ed Reed got his 9th
career postseason Int, which ties the NFL record.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh made the gutsy call
for a fake field goal on fourth and nine from the SF 14 as K Justin Tucker ran
left for 8 yards but was stopped short. After a huge stop, the 49ers offense
went three and out and gave the Ravens the ball back at their own 44. On the
third play of the drive, Flacco hit WR Jacoby Jones for 56 yards, four of which
Jones juked the 49ers defenders to give the Ravens the 21-3 lead.
The 49ers
were in a deep hole, having committed two turnovers and playing horrible
defense and also had the numbers going against them as the NFL record for the
biggest comeback in Super Bowl history was 10.
The 49ers
were able to drive on the last drive of the half but again couldn’t get the
ball in the endzone as they had to settle for a touchdown, cutting the Ravens
lead to 21-6 at halftime.
On the
opening kickoff of the second half, Ravens KR Jacoby Jones extended the Ravens
lead with a 108-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, an NFL record for longest
return in postseason history.
The next
drive is perhaps the strangest drive in NFL history as it took over 40 minutes
to play. The reason was that after Kaepernick was sacked, the Superdome
experienced a power outage that lasted 34 minutes. John Harbaugh expressed his
frustration with the Superdome staff during the outage as players kept warm by
stretching.
The 49ers
were able to score their first touchdown of the game with 7:20 left in the
third when Kaepernick hit WR Michael Crabtree for a 31-yard touchdown. The
49ers defense finally started to show why they were one of the league’s best as
they forced a three and out on the next possession. After a 32 yard punt return
by Ted Ginn Jr., 49ers RB Frank Gore ran it in for a six yard touchdown two
plays later. It seemed as if the power outage was in the 49ers favor as they
scored 14 straight points to cut the Ravens lead to 28-20. After a Ray Rice
fumble, Akers made his second field goal of the game to cut the deficit to
five.
The 49ers
were able to stop the Ravens offense at the 49ers one-yard line, as they had to
settle for a Tucker field goal. The 49ers drove on their next drive as they
went five plays for 76 yards that ended with a Kaepernick 15 yard touchdown
run. The 49ers failed on the two-point conversion. The Ravens went 60 yards and
took 5:38 seconds off the clock on their next drive, highlighted by a Tucker 38
yard field goal to extend the Ravens lead to five, 34-29.
The 49ers
offense drove to the Ravens seven-yard line setting up perhaps the biggest
defense stop in Ravens history. On fourth and five at the five yard line, the
Ravens sent out an all out blitz that forced Kaepernick to lob the ball to the
right corner of the endzone. Behind excellent coverage from S Harrison Smith, the
ball went out of the endzone, almost certainty ending the dramatic comeback of
the 49ers. Ravens P Sam Koch took time off the clock on fourth down and settled
for a safety to put the score at 34-31. Koch punted the ball on the kickoff as
Ginn Jr. ran left before being swarmed by Ravens defenders ending the game.
Flacco was
awarded the Super Bowl game MVP after having a near perfect game throwing for
287 yards and three touchdowns with no Ints.
Ravens LB
Ray Lewis will leave the game of football as a champion as he won his second
title with the Ravens and will head into his retirement as perhaps one of the
greatest linebackers in the history of the game.
Kaepernick
had 302 passing yards and a touchdown with a pick but also ran for 62 yards and
a touchdown. The 49ers have a lot of reasons to keep their heads up high as
they had a great season but unfortunately didn’t play their best game tonight.
The Super
Bowl title will now head back to Baltimore as they send out their greatest
player in team history, a champion. Congrats to the Baltimore Ravens on a
wonderful season and thank you to Ray Lewis for a wonderful career.
images were used from google.com, espn.com, and msn.foxsports.com
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