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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Miguel
01-14-2013
07:57 pm
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Walt:
You don't have to look for candidates for the Jerks of the Week column elswhere. Take a look to your mirror! 0-4 makes you the obvious candidate this week.
Atwood
01-14-2013
02:08 pm
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Jo you are very ignorant if you think that John Fox would've let Peyton run that last play. Fox is the most conservative coach in the NFL Do you really think that Payton wanted to knee the ball then go to halftime and end the game into overtime? John Fox lost the game for Denver not anybody else
jo
01-14-2013
12:52 pm
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peyton manning was avg. at best. when denver was trying to run out clock and 3rd and 7 y run it? u no peyton woulda been wanted to pass and fox wouldnt have said no so im guessing that peyton had no confidence. a 1st down seals it
#1 Seahawk Fan in NJ
01-14-2013
12:14 pm
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How about the other great commentary moments?
A 16 point lead is a 3 score game Later, if Seattle kicks a field goal to get it to within 17 points - they will only be down by two scores The best was - the final Seahawk drive - suggesting they kick a field goal with 45 seconds left and try an onside kick
Can anybody decipher this?
01-14-2013
11:39 am
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NFL Picks (Week 19, 2012): 0-4 (-$550)
NFL Picks (2012): 128-145-7 (-$5,910)
Aj
01-14-2013
11:13 am
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I am going to thumbs up my own comment
Tom Brady
01-14-2013
10:41 am
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Looking forward to your excuses & bad picks next week Walt.
Oh & Baltimore, it's payback time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzQuArTJfIQ No replacement refs are gonna save you this time!
Fading Walt
01-14-2013
09:39 am
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7-1 picking against Walt. I LOVE YOU WALT!
Rodrigo
01-14-2013
07:58 am
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Peyton Manning played amazing until his second interception? What game were you watching? He led the offense to 21 points and his 3 turnovers turned into 17 points for the Ravens. Had he been "amazing" before the pick, the game wouldn't even have gone into overtime.
Hmmm
01-14-2013
04:05 am
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I wonder if John Fox was watching when the Falcons managed to get in FG range with only 30 secs to play with to win the game...
JC
01-13-2013
11:09 pm
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Missed FG opps for Seattle I guess are easy to second guess, but the feel of the game at the time I understood the urgency. It's not like you can predict a team overcoming a 20 point 4th quarter deficit to where those issues mattered. I think Lynch took himself out do to the foot injury on the 3rd and 4th & 1 downs that failed, and on the last plays of the half, I thought Wilson should have spiked it and saved that timeout. The pressure happened so fast he couldn't get rid of the ball, that's why you save a timeout even giving up a down. Not having Clemons or Jason Jones for an already weak road pass rush group was the big difference. A half dozen 30-50 yard bombs on a dime can't always be broken up by Sherman
Baker
01-13-2013
09:36 pm
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We may see more officiating go Baltimore's way in the AFC title game. The league is losing one of it's media darlings in Ray Lewis and I wouldn't be surprised if they were trying some backroom dealings to send him off on a high note.
NBA Officials?
01-13-2013
07:33 pm
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The only call that went Denver's way was the illegal hands to the face, but it wasn't even a fumble anyway. I actually thought that the no tuck rule call was correct, however, that play never would have happened had the refs not called the worst holding penalty I've ever seen on 3rd and 1. There was definitely something going on in that game.
Again
01-13-2013
04:30 pm
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Walter cries buckets and makes sure we never forget any special teams touchdowns go against his picks. When the Broncos lose, he complains about the officiating and completely ignores the fact that they were only in that game because of TWO special teams TDs...
Ken Snizzlefist
01-13-2013
02:38 pm
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I don't know why I keep coming here...habit I guess. The only thing worse than the picks are the terrible and whiny excuses.
The jokes used to be funny but at this point Walt is trying way to hard. Does ANYONE actually read them anymore? Seriously. It's usually one paragraph of analysis and a half a page of lame and tired jokes. At least the mock drafts are still pretty good. |
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