Super Bowl XLVII is closing in and there’s plenty to talk about. John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens head coach and Jim Harbaugh, San Francisco head coach, are squaring off in the biggest sibling rivalry match in the NFL since the Manning brothers played each other during the 2010 regular season. John and Jim Harbaugh are barely a year apart in age and grew up around their father Jack Harbaugh, a former college player and coach.
The brother coaches are no strangers to the spotlight. The Baltimore Ravens fired their offensive coordinator with three weeks left in the regular season and replaced him with Jim Caldwell, the former head coach responsible for leading the Indianapolis Colts to 2-14 season in 2011. However, Jim Harbaugh takes the cake with his handshake mishap with Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz in 2011, as well as his quarterback switch up midseason, replacing the seasoned Alex Smith with the fledgling quarterback Colin Kaepernick. And as both teams silenced their critics, there’s one thing left to talk about: the game.
A few months ago, most would have assumed that if these two teams met in the final showdown, it would be a defensive battle for the ages, and if it’s anything like their meeting in 2011, it might be. Baltimore had home field advantage, and their defense took advantage of sloppy blocking by the 49ers. Baltimore sacked Alex Smith 9 times, pushing the 49ers back a total of 44 yards. Terrell Suggs had 3 sacks of his own. San Francisco went 2 for 12 on 3rd down and only put up 170 yards of total offense. The Ravens didn’t put up any outstanding numbers offensively either, with Ray Rice being limited to 59 yards on 21 carries, and Joe Flacco passing for less than 200 yards. These lackluster numbers for Baltimore’s offense were still enough to get the win, 16 to 6.
In 2013, things are different. This time, the brothers meet on neutral turf, and the 49ers have a young quarterback that’s using his big arm and quick feet to unlock the team’s offensive potential. Michael Crabtree seems to welcome the change at quarterback, and when Kaepernick was asked about why he throws the ball the way of Crabtree so often the young QB simply said, “He’s open.”
It also helps the 49ers that veteran Terrell Suggs, NFL 2011 defensive player of the year, only has 2 sacks this year after battling some serious injuries, and the big playmakers that have made up the backbone of the Ravens defense aren’t getting any younger.
When it comes to powerful emotional inspiration the advantage swings toward Baltimore. Ray Lewis will play the last game of his career at the Super Bowl, a momentum shift that can’t be discounted. Art Modell, long time Baltimore Ravens owner, died earlier this season, and the team hasn’t forgotten, wearing patches on their jerseys throughout this postseason. Also, Joe Flacco is playing some of the best football of his career, and his post-season numbers can’t be ignored. He has six road wins in his postseason career, more than any quarterback in NFL history. In his three games this postseason, Flacco has thrown for 853 yards, 8 passing touchdowns, and no interceptions. Dating back to the 2010 postseason, Flacco has 15 touchdown passes, and has only given up two interceptions.
Both teams learned from their mistakes in their respective conference championship games from last year and have managed to make it to the main event. San Francisco is a perfect 5-0 in the Super Bowl and would join Pittsburgh as one of two franchises to have 6 Super Bowl titles to its name with a victory on Sunday. Las Vegas currently favors the 49ers by 3.5 points. The Ravens could care less, as they have won there last two games as the underdog.
In a battle of rival sons, a new quarterback hopes to turn his 10th career start into a Super Bowl victory while taking on a retiring legendary linebacker with nothing to lose. Two defensive powerhouses are looking to quash the surprising offenses of their opponents. One city looks desperately for a championship, while another city looks to become the city of champions. When it comes to the big game in the Big Easy, all bets are off.
The Super Bowl kicks off February 3rd at 6:30 p.m. EST on CBS.
