Super Bowl XLVII Recap
Ravens 34, 49ers 31
These Ravens won't go down as the best team of all time or anything, but one of the best players to every take the field was able to win his second Super Bowl ring on his final ride. Ray Lewis, who was the center of attention for the early part of the week because of the deer antler spray revelation, told his team that he was going to retire after this season. This seemed to inspire Baltimore during its magical run to the Super Bowl. Lewis did not play well physically, but he was instrumental mentally and inspired his team like no one else could. In the triumph, Lewis became the first player in NFL history to claim consecutive Super Bowl rings 12 or more seasons apart.
It was also nice to see the other Ravens win the Lombardi. Contrary to popular belief, Ed Reed was not part of the stalwart 2000 Baltimore defense, so this was his first championship. Terrell Suggs, Bryant McKinnie, Anquan Boldin, Ray Rice, Marshal Yanda and others served as great players in this league over the years, so they deserved this trophy as much as anyone.
Of course, the person primarily responsible for making this happen was Joe Flacco, who claimed the MVP trophy - and rightfully so. There have been arguments for Jacoby Jones, but one of Jones' two scores came via a Flacco bomb. Granted, it was underthrown, and Jones had to juke two 49ers to reach the end zone, but without Flacco, there's no chance Baltimore would have won the Super Bowl. If Jones wasn't on the roster, the Ravens would have definitely still had a legitimate chance, so it would be very contrarian to state that Jones deserved the award.
Flacco was outstanding. He went 22-of-33 for 287 yards and three touchdowns. He was unreal on third down, converting 9-of-16 attempts. He was hot in the first half, torching a helpless San Francisco secondary with his monstrous arm. He was barely able to do anything in the third quarter after the infamous blackout because the 49ers held all of the momentum, but he made enough clutch throws to lead his team to field-goal drives of 71 and 59 yards in the fourth quarter, occupying nearly 11 minutes of the clock on those two possessions.
Colin Kaepernick was awful early on. CBS analyst Bill Cowher even suggested that the 49ers should bench Kaepernick in favor of Alex Smith. This was a completely ridiculous notion at the time, and it proved to be so as Kaepernick finished 16-of-28 for 302 yards, one touchdown and an interception along with seven carries for 62 rushing yards and a second score on the ground. Kaepernick wasn't very good in the red zone, however, thanks to Baltimore's No. 1 red-zone defense. However, 49er fans may point to poor officiating as a reason for that. They certainly have some beef - Michael Crabtree was clearly held in the end zone on San Francisco's final offensive play, but the refs' whistles were silent.
The officiating was putrid throughout. The Ravens benefited from most of the calls, though they were screwed over by a phantom running-into-the-kicker penalty on a David Akers miss. However, San Francisco has only itself to blame for this defeat. The team committed too many mental errors. The first play of the game, a 20-yard completion to Vernon Davis, was wiped out by illegal formation. The 49ers also wasted two crucial timeouts in the second half, and the play-calling in the red zone on the final offensive drive was abysmal. If it wasn't for the blackout, Baltimore may have run away with a victory of at least two touchdowns.
For more thoughts, check out my updated NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Tuesday morning.
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Wesley C
12-06-2011
02:01 pm
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If only Rob and Rex ran a plumbing business in Brooklyn that was frequently visited by C-level late 80s celebrities and showed awesome cartoons. Oh, and the daily reminder to watch The Legend of Zelda on Friday.
Jra
12-06-2011
03:44 am
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Haters gonna hate. So many bitter people on these comments.
Go run your own site noobs.
Brian Henry
12-05-2011
10:38 pm
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Comment is abusive and has been removed.
Brian Henry
12-05-2011
10:38 pm
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Comment is abusive and has been removed.
CJ
12-05-2011
07:49 pm
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It seems like Nick Fairley's diet is Starburst and Skittles. He's been dealing with this foot thing since day 2 of training camp. I really wish K.Smith could hold himself together.
The penalties. . . Well, Chris Collinsworth said it best. "What are you. . . You can't keep . . .just . . . . AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" I think he said that during the 3rd quarter.
Blok Nivek
12-05-2011
07:38 pm
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Hey Paisanos! It's the Super Ryan Bros. Super Show!
bias
12-05-2011
07:21 pm
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Just wanted to point out the Eagles played another team on Thursday night. Not sure if you noticed going off your comments...
Roy
12-05-2011
05:23 pm
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You forgot to mention the Chiefs had 7 sacks, 3 of which were rookie OLB Justin Houston.
OKAYmeanwhile
12-05-2011
04:44 pm
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Walter, you forgot to mention how many interceptions the Ravens defense dropped during their game against the Browns.
Probably more passes than the Browns receivers dropped. Either way, that game was ugly!
Act 3 Scene 2...
12-05-2011
03:03 pm
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...In which Walt continues to rave like your typical fanboy.
You know Walt people would dislike Tebow less if his fans weren't such insufferable jackasses. Honestly, just suck his dick already.
Kyle
12-05-2011
01:06 pm
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Walt I don't understand how you can criticize the refs in other games, but in the lions game the refs called some very shaky penalties on Detroit and you say its the lions fault? come on man, be more consistent with your analysis.
and I'm not a lions fan either, i watched the game and saw the refs hand the saints a victory
lax18
12-05-2011
11:12 am
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shonn greenes 3rd TD was in garbage time, his 2nd was with 4 minutes left with the jets only up 3
Bad grammar
12-05-2011
11:08 am
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For someone who seems to enjoy making fun of other people's bad grammar so much, Walter sure makes a lot of mistakes. Try proofreading
Lance
12-05-2011
11:04 am
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Really? Ryan was terrible in the game? You clearly did not watch the game at all. Yes, he did overthrow Roddy and Julio early, but beyond that I don't know why he wasn't driven insane by those two, along with his other targets. There had to have been at least a dozen dropped passes by Falcons receivers in that game. He hit them in stride and right on their hands yet they dropped the ball over and over and over and over again. It was a terrible performance which I wholeheartedly hope the receiving corps feels ashamed in themselves for.
one man team
12-05-2011
07:47 am
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how in the world are %99 of tebow fans complete idiots? this game was his best statwise, his only good one in fact, yet all these people hail him as elite. i've heard his fans coming up with ridiculous stats and ranking him better than marino, montana, elway, manning, brady, rogers, etc. right. winning is all that matters, for the team. it takes a team effort to win a game. as quaterbacks go, based on individual performance, tebow is below average, at best(right now in his career). he seems to energize the team and all that, but his performances are statistically quite poor and they often win despite his play. he makes a nice play or two at the end of the game and he's all of a sudden elite, and still no one else gets any credit for keeping them in the game while he's blowing it for the first 55 min.
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