From a first half beat down to a scintillating halftime show to an unprecedented power outage all the way to a near-miraculous comeback, Super Bowl XLVII definitely had it all.
In the end, though, it was the Baltimore Ravens that put the final sizzle on what arguably became one of the fucking wildest Super Bowls in history, holding off the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 to win the franchise’s second title in team history.
Boy, where do we start.
In chronological fashion, we’ll begin with the first half where the Ravens, despite being listed as 4.5-point underdogs by Vegas books raced to a 21-6 lead on the arm of quarterback Joe Flacco. You’d expect something like that if they were playing the Browns of Cleveland, but the San Francisco 49ers? That’s about as stunning a half you’ll ever see played in one of the biggest sporting events of the year.
But apparently, the first half was just a warm-up act.
(Quick tangent: Beyonce…holy shit…)
By the time the second half started, the Ravens only needed 11 seconds to tack on another seven points on the scoreboard courtesy of a Jacoby Jones kick-off return opened the second half record-tying 108-yard kickoff return. Call it what you will, but that appeared to be the final nail in the Niners coffin. See you later, San Francisco; you already have a World Series title anyway.
And just as everybody was beginning to crown the Ravens, the Super Bowl went from blowout to blackout.
We’re still not sure exactly what happened, but reports have come out saying that a power surge in the Superdome caused an power outage that delayed the game for well over 30 minutes, causing confusion among the players, the fans, and just about everyone watching on television.
Mercifully, the lights were turned back on and just as unexpectedly, San Francisco also came alive.
First, it was a Michael Crabtree 31-yard touchdown. Then a 6-yard touchdown run by Frank Gore. Then a 34-yard David Akers field goal. In a little over four minutes of game action, the 49ers were went from being in the recipient end of an ass whuppin’ to only five points back with still a quarter to play.
Ravens kicker Justin Tucker pushed the lead back up to eight with a 19-yard field goal but San Francisco came storming back again with a 15-yard touchdown run by quarterback Colin Kaepernick, putting the Niners just the points down only after a two-point conversion failed that would’ve tied the game with ten minutes remaining in the game.
Tucker was once again called to action and obliged with another field goal, putting Baltimore up by five. And again, just as it appears to have been scripted by a higher power, the game came down on the Baltimore seven yard line with San Francisco having four chances to punch the goal in the end zone and take the lead.
But just as they’ve shown over the years, the Ravens defense stood tall, stoning the Niners four times and making the kind of defensive stand champions are known for, thus denying the Niners the the greatest and wildest comeback in Super Bowl history.
The Niners shouldn’t feel too bad, though. Yeah, they didn’t win the game and they fell short in covering the spread, but those guys – and the Ravens – gave all of us a hell of a TV spectacle.
As for the Baltimore Ravens, a big congratulations for winning the Super Bowl XLVII. Well deserved, and in every sense of the word, well-earned.
