The San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens advanced to Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday. The 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons 28-24, while the Ravens upset the New England Patriots 28-13. Baltimore prevented Patriot quarterback Tom Brady from going to his 6th Super Bowl, which would have been a record for any quarterback ever. In the process, the Ravens avenged their narrow loss to the Patriots last year in the AFC Championship Game.
After the Ravens won, in what is sure to be the top story preceding the game, this Super Bowl became the first match-up of head coaching brothers facing each other for the title, Jim and John Harbaugh. This was the second consecutive year that both Harbaughs made it to their Championship games, with each losing last year. I’m sure we will all be tired of this story by the time the game is played, except their family of course.
The 49ers won the NFC Championship Game when they trailed 17-0 in the second quarter. They closed the deficit to 10, 24-14 at halftime. San Francisco finally took the lead for the only time, late in the 4th quarter. Then they held off the Falcons’ last chance, as time wound down, cementing a 28-24 victory. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick had another good game, throwing for 233 yards and 1 touchdown, but not quite as good as last week, against the Packers. The 49ers controlled the line of scrimmage, rushing for 149 yards, led by running back Frank Gore with 90.
The Baltimore Ravens went into the AFC Championship Game as a 9 point underdogs, and came out AFC Champions, and they won pretty easily. The Patriots led 13-7 at halftime, but never scored another point. Amazingly, Raven quarterback Joe Flacco outplayed future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. Flacco threw for 240 yards and 3 touchdowns, with no interceptions, while Brady, even though he threw for 335 yards, had 2 interceptions. Maybe Flacco will be considered an elite quarterback if he wins the Super Bowl, like he said at the beginning of the season. Linebacker Ray Lewis, of the Ravens, again led his team in tackles with 14, as his retirement has been delayed one more game. He will try for his second Super Bowl win on February 3rd in New Orleans.
San Francisco has been installed as an early 4 1/2 point favorite. Interestingly, the 49ers would have been 1 1/2 point favorites over the Patriots, if they had beat the Ravens. So let the incredible amount of media publicity over the next 2 weeks begin, and make us just about sick of the game even before kickoff. Not to mention Super Bowl Sunday. The pregame coverage starts about sunrise, on the west coast at least, and the postgame continues well into the evening, after the game. I know a lot of people, mostly women, watch the Super Bowl for the commercials and the half time show, which is Beyonce by the way. This makes for the highest rated television show every year. For me at least, with all respect due to the 49ers, Ravens and all their fans all over the world, this Super Bowl makes me very interested…in HOCKEY!
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