Super Bowl XLVII Recap

Ravens 34, 49ers 31

Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens for winning Super Bowl XLVII! They were far from the best team in the NFL during the regular season – they needed an unbelievable amount of luck to beat the Chiefs and the Chargers, for crying out loud – but they got healthy just at the right time and caught fire. It also helped that they had some breaks go their way. I’m still trying to figure out what the Denver defensive backs were doing during Joe Flacco’s Mile High Rainbow play.

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.

Speaking of the blackout, the 49ers probably would have been blown out of the water had the Superdome not lost electricity for more than a half an hour. An irate John Harbaugh could do nothing but yell at the stadium officials, as he watched his team lose all momentum. What also helped San Francisco was the infamous Circadian rhythms. The 49ers, being from the West Coast, had the luxury of being the team that was awake as the game went late into the night.

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.

The primary goat for the 49ers was cornerback Chris Culliver. Flacco must have taken offense to Culliver’s anti-gay comments during the week for whatever reason because he made sure to abuse him the entire evening. Culliver surrendered nearly half of Flacco’s passing yards (123). He was beaten on Jones’ aforementioned long score, and he committed the game’s only pass-interference infraction.

There were several San Francisco players who performed well. Frank Gore rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. He couldn’t do much early on, but things opened up for him once Haloti Ngata left with a knee injury midway through the game. Gore, however, inexplicably didn’t get a single red-zone carry despite being a primary catalyst for the 49ers’ late surge. Instead, LaMichael James wasted a down with a 2-yard gain. James had just three attempts for 10 yards. He lost a key fumble in Baltimore territory early on.

Michael Crabtree led the 49ers with 109 receiving yards (with a touchdown) on five catches. He had a drop, but should have drawn a hold on the final offensive play of the game that would have given San Francisco a fresh set of downs. Vernon Davis, meanwhile, logged six receptions for 104 yards. The Ravens couldn’t cover him, so the 49ers’ reluctance to give him more targets was befuddling.

As for the Ravens’ play-makers, Boldin had a greater offensive showing than Jones, snagging six receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown. All Jones did on offense was reel in that aforementioned 56-yard bomb. Dennis Pitta (4-26) also scored.

Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce found it difficult to run for the most part, but they had some solid gains. Rice finished with 59 yards on 20 carries and also lost a fumble. Pierce (12-33) got hurt on one rush. He was able to reenter the contest, but managed just three yards on three attempts after doing so.

The defensive MVPs for each team were Ed Reed and Patrick Willis. The latter racked up 10 tackles and was monstrous in run support. Reed, meanwhile, grabbed the game’s only interception. Paul Kruger is also worth noting, as he registered two sacks.

For more on this game, check out my Live Super Bowl XLVII Blog.

For more thoughts, check out my updated NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Tuesday morning.

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