Super Bowl XLVII Sunday

After the long two weeks of endless analysis and opinions, Super Bowl Sunday has finally arrived! Tonight on CBS the 47^th edition of America’s greatest pro football event will kickoff approximately at 6:35 pm EST. The Super Bowl is a cultural phenomenon that sparks parties, memories, and many other annual traditions. This year’s matchup features the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers. Whether your over it or have been completely oblivious to ESPN and all sports talk, you should know that this year’s game is featuring two brothers coaching verse one another. John vs. Jim, the “Harbowl” is a few of the alternative names for tonight’s game.

John Harbaugh is the older of the two and is leading his Baltimore Ravens into the game along with the commotion from Ray Lewis’ “Last Ride”; Lewis announced he would retire at the end of the postseason. Jim, the younger brother, in just his second season at the helm made the call in Week 12 of benching Alex Smith in favor of Colin Kaepernick and the move has paid off leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl. The battle of the Harbaugh brothers has added an original twist to the usual Super Bowl hype. People of all interests tune in to watch this cultural phenomenon for a variety of reasons, i.e. the actual game, their team is playing, the halftime show, or the highly popular commercials These other aspects of the big game are what have arguably put Super Bowl Sunday among the elite ranks of Christmas Day and the Fourth of July among our American holidays.  

Once you get passed all the media driven headlines, commercials, and your neighbor’s party all that is left is the very reason for today...... THE GAME! Tonight is Super Bowl XLVII between two top teams who have both earned the right to be in New Orleans. Each of these teams has had to deal with adversity, some of it self-inflicted, as well as simply surviving the 20 week NFL season. Playing in the Super Bowl provides the rare opportunity of earning the right to be called a World Champion. So who will it be Ravens or 49ers? Both teams bring solid defenses loaded with stars into this game. The 49ers have the young but multi-talented Colin Kaepernick who has the strides comparable of an ostrich and posses an accurate and powerful arm. They also run their offense out of the pistol formation which has been hard to stop. The Ravens are led by fifth year starter Joe Flacco, the man who throws the “candy” deep ball and is known by Baltimore as “Joe Cool”. The Ravens have sure-handed pro Anquan Boldin and young speedsters Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones at receiver, in addition to Ray Rice out of the backfield. The 49ers’ pose their own weapons such as Michael Crabtree, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, and the self proclaimed “best wide receiver in NFL history” Randy Moss. The kicking game heavily favors Baltimore, rookie Justin Tucker has been near automatic this season making all 54 of his extra points (12-12 in playoffs) and 32 of his 35 field goal attempts (2-2 in playoffs) with a long of 56. Meanwhile the 14 year veteran David Akers has had a good season, but has not been as consistent as Tucker. Akers has made all 54 extra points this season (10-10 in playoffs); but field goals have been a different story. He made 29 out of 42 field goal attempts in the regular season and is just 1 of 2 this postseason. So if the game comes down to a clutch kick my money is on Baltimore either way, but there is one other reason I am on Baltimore.

The top theme of this year’s NFL playoffs has been Ray Lewis’ “Last Ride.” The Ravens have risen to whole other level of intensity and heart; whereas the 49ers have done their business and won two games to get here. On paper the 49ers are the favorites, but my eyes and heart tell me otherwise. The Ravens and 49ers are similar enough in talent and skill that an emotional x-factor such as “The Last Ride” can very well make the difference in tonight’s game. If you look at the Super Bowl winners from previous seasons such as the 2005 Steelers, 2007 Giants, 2010 Packers, and 2011 Giants there are glaring similarities to these 2012 Ravens. All these teams were not the popular pick to reach, let alone win the Super Bowl. In the Super Bowl all these for-mentioned teams were overwhelming slated as underdogs by the media just like the Ravens are in tonight’s game. The Ravens have the veteran leadership of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Anquan Boldin to provide the needed edge. I think the Ravens are a team of destiny and have the necessary combination of veteran leadership, talent, scheme, and heart needed to pull off the upset tonight.

Prediction: Ravens 27 49ers 13

Super Bowl MVP: Joe Flacco                      

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