For the first time in Super Bowl history the biggest game in American football will feature a head-to-head matchup between the AFC (American Football Conference) champions the Baltimore Ravens, coached by John Harbaugh, and the NFC (National Football Conference) champions the San Francisco 49ers, coached by John’s younger brother Jim Harbaugh. Can you imagine the Harbaugh household come February 3?
The 2013 edition of the Super Bowl will be the most highly anticipated game in recent memory, and it’s mainly dominated by the storylines. Both these teams are defending conference runner-ups who lost in their conference championship games last year and, coincidently, they each lost by a field goal. You have, as mentioned, brothers coaching head-to-head for the first time in Super Bowl history and for only the second time in NFL history. Then there’s the never ending, “Swan Song” of Ray Lewis, who will be playing his final game as Baltimore Raven.
Overall, the storylines are dominating this year’s Super Bowl, yet even the Harbaugh brothers would say, it’s not about them, it’s about the teams on the field.
The AFC champion Ravens come into the Super Bowl looking for their second victory in thirteen years. NFL players and coaches say one of the toughest things to accomplish is to win on the road in the playoffs, and the Ravens did that not once, but twice, defeating two of the AFC’s best teams, the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, in their own backyard.
During the regular season, the Ravens were plagued with injuries, most notably from Ray Lewis, who suffered a torn tricep, and Lardarius Webb, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. The Ravens injuries took effect especially late in the season. They finished the regular season at 10-6, however, by losing 4 of their last 5 games during the regular season, you can literally say this team “limped” into the playoffs.
Ray Lewis’s first game back from injury was the first playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts on January 6, and from that game forward, Lewis has brought a stronger motivation and presence to the Raven’s defense. The media attention on Lewis throughout the playoffs, however, has been a little too much. Lewis has preformed his pregame and postgame episodes where he is seen dancing, pumping up his team, and, occasionally, sobbing after a big win many times before, but now audiences are being flooded with images of his eccentric outburst. Lewis is going to go down as one of the greatest middle linebackers to ever play the game, but, please, for the sake of my sanity, I hope he puts the antics aside and focuses on winning the game.
Lewis may get more of the attention, but the man carrying the Ravens is their quarterback Joe Flacco. The guy has played simply astounding throughout the playoffs. In three games of the postseason, Flacco faced up against Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady, and he outplayed all of them with a total of 8 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in those three games. Flacco’s ability to throw the long ball was key throughout the playoffs and will be a key come Super Bowl XLVII as well.
On the other side of the field come Super Bowl Sunday will be the tough, physical San Francisco 49ers. They began the season with Alex Smith starting at quarterback in his seventh year, but a concussion would bring Smith’s season to end after 10 games into the season. The 49ers with a 7-2-1 record looked to second year quarterback Colin Kaepernick to lead the offense for the rest of the season. A couple of weeks later, Smith was cleared to play, but Harbaugh was impressed with Kaepernick enough to ignore his rule that no player should lose his starting job due to an injury. Kaepernick remained the starter for the remainder of the season and guided the 49ers to a 11-4-1 record, an NFC West championship and a first-round bye in the playoffs.
The 49ers would begin their 2013 playoffs debut against the Green Bay Packers. The game was dominated by Kaepernick, who threw 2 touchdowns for 263 yards, but, more impressively, Kaepernick set a NFL quarterback record for rushing yards with an astounding 181 yards and a 45-31 victory over the Packers. On January 20, 2013, the 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons 28-24 as the NFC Champions to advance to Super Bowl XLVII.
The defense of the 49ers ranked in the top-3 in total defense throughout the season. Linebackers Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman lead one of the most physical and disciplined defenses in the NFL. During the AFC Championship game, the defense shutout the Falcons in the second half of AFC Championship after losing by 17 at one point in the first half. The defense of the 49ers will be the key to their victory in the Super Bowl. Containing Flacco and his ability to throw the long ball is essential, and Kaepernick needs to play the game of his career to defeat the Ravens.
As you may recall, before this season I predicted the Super Bowl exactly correct as is: Ravens vs. 49ers. I also said the 49ers would beat the Ravens 28-17, however, after both teams’ performance in the playoffs, I’m pulling the switch. The Ravens are definitely the more motivated team coming into the game. Ray Lewis will be playing his final game, and Flacco, I believe, has been the MVP of the playoffs. Both teams have altered in some way since the day I made the prediction, and I can’t help but think the Ravens are the slightly better team.
My pick: Ravens over the 49ers 24-21.
The Super Bowl action will begin at about 4:30 p.m. MDT on February 3, with pregame set to begin an hour before kickoff. The game can be seen nationally on CBS with legendary broadcaster Jim Nantz and former Super Bowl winner Phil Simms bringing you the action from the broadcast booth. This is sure to be a game for the ages and one that will be talked about years from now when we’ll say, “Remember when the Harbaugh brothers coached against each other in that one Super Bowl?”
