The Super Bowl XLVII. The Harbowl, The Super Bro. However you address this year’s NFL championship game, it certainly lived up to its name: super.
The San Francisco 49ers took on the Baltimore Ravens this year in New Orleans. Both teams had advantages on their side.
The Niners were by far the favorite. They have a well-balanced defense, with great leadership coming from their 2 star linebackers. Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman, they are considered to be clones of one another. Another reasonSan Franciscois favored to win this game is young quarterback and Pitman High School graduate, Colin Kaepernick. He took over after long time starter Alex Smith was concussed about halfway through the season. Ever since then, Kaepernick has been the most talked about athlete in the NFL.
With the pistol offense thriving in San Francisco, defenses have had trouble defending the crafty quarterback. Against the Packers, he set an NFL postseason record with the most rushing yards by a quarterback, (181yds). Then the next week, he took apart the Atlanta Falcons through the air, leading the 49ers from behind 17 points at halftime. Now he looks to prove he is a force to be reckoned with and a future franchise quarterback.
The Ravens didn’t need to look anywhere but ahead in these playoffs. Led by Quarterback Joe Flacco and Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis, Flacco had one of the best postseasons of all time, throwing for 853 yards and 8 touchdowns without an interception. And on the other side of the ball stood the heart and soul of the Baltimore Ravens, Ray Lewis. He has dominated at the highest level for 17 years and just a few weeks ago announced he was retiring at the end of the season. Even though he is at the end of his career he manages to lead the team in tackles, and average over 11 a game.
Jim and John Harbaugh grew up in Toledo, Ohio. Jim Harbaugh succeeded passed John in the fact that he played 15 years in the NFL as a quarterback. But John Harbaugh entered the NFL as a coach before Jim did. Both brothers have made an impact on the league, John Harbaugh’s record being 54-26 and Jim Harbaugh’s record being 24-7-1.
The parents of the 2 coaches, Jack and Jackie Harbaugh, have had mixed feelings about their sons facing each other in the biggest sporting event in the world. Half of the emotions have been proud, and happy. The other half have been scary and nervous. “We’re going to be here for the son who loses the game” –Jackie Harbaugh.
Once the game began it was all Ravens. Taking an early 14-3 lead. Kaepernick had thrown the first interception in the 49ers Super Bowl history. While Joe Flacco was slowly inching closer to the NFL playoff record for most TDs thrown, held by none other than, former Niners quarterback Joe Montana.
At halftime the game was slipping away from the 49ers. Momentum wasn’t on their side and the ravens were ahead 21-6.
Beyoncé was the key performer during the halftime show. And her performance was amazing, as expected. But if the 49ers would have known what she would’ve performed so well she would have easily stole MVP.
After the very luxurious and colorful halftime show, the main energy source for the south side of the stadium had short circuited and caused a 42 minute delay.The person in charge said, “Because of the halftime show, it had overworked the system and needed to cool off basically.” Beyoncé said she was going to blow the roof off the Super Dome… she came close.
Just before the lights had gone out, the kickoff to start halftime surprised everyone. Jacoby Jones of the Ravens took out the kick 8 yards deep in the end zone and returned it for a 108 yard touchdown, tying the all-time record for the longest return in league history.
The 49ers had been down and in need of a comeback before, and they never failed in making it a game. This was exactly the case when Colin Kaepernick took the field in the 3rd quarter. Kaepernick led the 49ers like he had in the past and brought the team and crowd to its feet. He threw a 31 yard touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree. Then Frank Gore got in on the action, rushing for a 6 yard touchdown.
In the 4th quarter the 49ers were still behind 28-23, and in need of a big play. So they gave the ball to their biggest playmaker, Colin Kaepernick. He ran for a 15 yard touchdown, which broke the record for longest rushing TD by a quarterback in the Super Bowl.
As time ran down the 49ers had battled back to a 3 point deficit. With 1:50 left in the game, the Ravens held off the 49ers 4 straight plays in the red zone. After that it was just clock management, which the Ravens were very good at.
When the final 0 came up on scoreboard it meant that the Baltimore Ravens were the 2013 Super Bowl Champions. Nobody was more emotional and excited than Ray Lewis. He will retire and ride off into the sunset, a Super Bowl Champion. Joe Flacco won the MVP and is headed to Disney World. He also has a contract negotiation to look forward to, and with his statistics he should be one of the top paid quarterbacks in the NFL.
Finally, between the Harbaugh brothers, the postgame handshake was civilized and full of love. John Harbaugh proved he was the better coach. Only time will tell if this rare brother vs. brother matchup will happen again, and if it does, who will be the better Harbaugh?