Super Bowl XLVII

I wrote in my Super Bowl XLVII half time analysis:

"...another score early for the Ravens and it might be all over. That said, San Francisco have a habit of coming back. Tough road, this one - and it'll be the biggest Super Bowl comeback. So Kaepernick and company are going to really earn the Lombardi Trophy if they can get it. Baltimore need to keep playing. The 49ers can kill you with big plays..."

And boy, was I right on nearly every count! As far as wild finishes go, Super Bowl XLVII had everything you could imagine and more. If this was the first ever NFL game you watched, regardless of whether you yet understand the rules or the game's nuances, it doesn't get much more dramatic than that last thirty minutes of football to decide the 47th National Football League Champion.

First, it was Jacoby Jones breaking an NFL record for the longest play in history with his 109-yard kickoff return touchdown to begin the third - it was later adjusted to 108 yards, tying the previous best mark - then a crazy power outage in the Mercedes Benz Superdome that stopped the game for more than thirty minutes (and probably helped the 49ers compose themselves in the face of an onslaught), followed by a furious San Francisco comeback that was just - only just - quelled in a desperate fourth-and-goal play with less than two minutes left to play...and potentially there was a holding call missed on that game-deciding play.

In hindsight, perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised. The 49ers have made a habit of breathtaking last-minute comebacks this year, and they've bounced back from adversity throughout the playoffs. It was Kaepernick's early pick-6 against Green Bay and the red hot Matt Ryan/Julio Jones combo against Atlanta, and the Niners always seemed to be able to come back. Perhaps, if the call had gone differently - a flag bringing about a fresh set of downs inside the 2-minute warning rather than a no-call that seemed to thoroughly confuse Phil Simms in the CBS booth - San Francisco might've gone 3-3. 

Alas, it was not to be and Joe Flacco, whose postseason has been as historical as it's been electrifying, led Baltimore to it's second ever Super Bowl win, Ray Lewis, the oft-discussed and rather controversial linebacker for the Ravens gets his fairytale ending - deserved or otherwise is wide-open for debate, as wide open as Jacoby Jones was on his first half TD grab off the Flacco bomb - in the Battle of the Harbaugh Brothers. All signs indicated a pretty brilliant Super Bowl, and this game certainly didn't disappoint.

Congratulations, Baltimore. Roll on 2013!

Super Bowl XLVII - Half Time Analysis

Well, the 49ers should, by all rights, be winning this game. A couple of mistakes and a few instances where they've suffered from a lack of execution, and they trail 21-3. My, how the pendulum can swing. Kaepenick's INT (the first by a San Francisco QB in Super Bowl history) was delivered on a silver platter for Ed Reed. That was an ugly play. But not as ugly as Culliver being blown by Jacoby Jones for the big score just before the half. The guy who's talked trash all week and all game looked pretty dumb there. Just shut up and play, alright? 49ers needed a touchdown at the end of the half. Field goal might not be enough.

Baltimore have taken full advantage of every opportunity laid in their laps. That call for a fake field goal down inside the San Francisco red zone was an interesting call. I wouldn't have made it - asking your punter to find 9 yards is a big ask. A BIG ask. But anyway, it worked out pretty well for the Ravens. Kaepernick almost threw his second howler of an INT on the ensuing possession, and the Baltimore ended up getting the football back on a three-and-out, anyway. 

Looking ahead to the second half: another score early for the Ravens and it might be all over. That said, San Francisco have a habit of coming back. Tough road, this one - and it'll be the biggest Super Bowl comeback. So Kaepernick and company are going to really earn the Lombardi Trophy if they can get it. Baltimore need to keep playing. The 49ers can kill you with big plays. The second they try to milk the clock, that's trouble. John Harbaugh's gotta know that. Surely.

I think Baltimore might just win this, and Ray Lewis gets his fairytale ending.

Super Bowl XLVII - My Prediction

My heart says Baltimore, but my head says San Francisco. I just think Colin Kaepernick is the wild card in this game, and I'm not sure that the Ravens defense - as good as they are - can do enough to limit the big plays that the 49ers quarterback is going to make. Nothing seems to faze Kaepernick. He makes a bad play, comes out next possession and does something extraordinary. So, San Francisco win 28-21 and Kaepernick makes enough bamboozling plays that he wins MVP.

Here it is...

Waited a long time, through a lot of hype, build-up and game narratives. Finally ready for sixty minutes to decide it. Really, take away all of the coverage, the parties, the media days, endless TV coverage, and everything else, and it comes down to 22 guys on the field at any given time, playing for sixty minutes, and the team with the most points on the board at the end becomes the 47th National Football League champion. That's pretty simple. Let's go!!!!