- Ravens beat 49ers to win Super Bowl XLVII
- Video: Watch all the Super Bowl commercials
- Video: Ray Lewis goes out on top
- Video: Harbaugh on Super Bowl win
- Beyonce dazzles at halftime show
- Grades: Power outage gives game new life
- Super Bowl XLVII: By the numbers
- Fans mob Baltimore streets to celebrate win
- Niners have excellent chance to return
- Vegas tabs Broncos, 49ers as 2014 favorites
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It's awkward, though. The 49ers' comeback from 22 points down would've shattered the record for biggest Super Bowl comeback; the record is 10 points. What would John Harbaugh say about having a non-scheduled, 30-minute break that sucked the life out of his team if they lost? What would Jim say if they won?
Because when they lost, he threw out some pretty garbage-worthy coach-speak, saying he didn't "know what percentage it affected us."
Whatever, it helped them. But why did it take a second 30-minute break -- one without Beyoncé jamming out on the field -- for the Niners to get it together? They ultimately ended up having enough time to seal the deal, but Baltimore held them off. And as terrifying as that might've been for the Ravens, they said following the game that it was completely fitting for their team and their city.
"It's unbelievable. We don't make it easy," Joe Flacco said while raising the Lombardi Trophy as the Super Bowl MVP. "That's the way the city of Baltimore is. That's the way we are."
Ravens coach John Harbaugh agreed completely while also calling his handshake with his brother Jim the "hardest thing I've ever experienced."
"How could it be any other way?" Harbaugh said. "It's never pretty. It's never perfect, but it is us. And that's the way we do it."
He agreed that the 49ers were able to "turn the momentum of the game" when they emerged from the blackout. It's true; they were sluggish and nervous and sloppy before the Superdome blacked out.
When they returned, it looked like the teams flipped on each other; the Ravens couldn't stop San Francisco on defense, Flacco couldn't execute the throws that he was spinning in the first half and Colin Kaepernick was no longer overwhelmed by the stage.
How that happens in 30 minutes with no power in the stadium is beyond me. Maybe Jim Harbaugh managed to fire up his team in a way that he couldn't at halftime. Or maybe everyone just collectively decided to throw caution to the wind and try to do what they couldn't in the first half.
They ultimately did, and they did it out of an impossible-to-forget situation featuring the power shutting down in the most watched television event of the year. That it led to a last-minute showdown between the future of the game (Kaep) and a guy on his way out (Ray Lewis) while pitting two brothers coaching against each other only exacerbated the drama.
It sometimes takes quirky events to make great games legendary. You just don't expect it to be because a total lack of power managed to completely revitalize the team that looked completely powerless in the first half.
Team | Grade | Analysis |
---|---|---|
B+ | Absolutely tremendous job by the Baltimore coaching staff to plan out this game in the early going. They were executing on offense: Jim Caldwell called a perfect game early, Joe Flacco was on fire, Anquan Boldin was an absolute beast, and even Ed Dickson was making tough catches. They were executing on defense (with Ray Lewis being the only real execption, awkwardly). They missed a fake field goal, but Jacoby Jones' return was huge. The power outage sucked the life out of Baltimore, and the result was pretty terrifying if you were rooting for the Ravens. But they ended up holding on and making a huge stop late, so it's hard to rip them too much. | |
C+ | Everyone thought the 49ers were the team ready to play football this week. Um, whoops? Colin Kaepernick was overwhelmed on the stage in the early going, coming out of the gates sluggishly and struggling until after the break. The defense was getting torched, with Chris Culliver being particularly embarrassed by the Ravens' wideouts. They eventually got their act to together, made a game out of it and had a shot at winning the Super Bowl by converting a fourth down. But they came up just short. |