Sunday, February 03, 2013

Ravens 34, 49ers 31

Gut reactions to Super Bowl XLVII:

1) After falling behind 22 points in the 3rd quarter, the 49ers showed character by coming within five yards of taking the lead, with under two minutes to go.

2) However, the Niners once again spotted a powerful opponent (just as they did with Green Bay and Atlanta) a big lead. To win three of those games in the postseason is asking a lot of the football gods.

3) What a contrast with Bill Walsh, who would script his first 20-25 offensive plays and usually seize the advantage at the beginning of the game.

4) Were it not for having the local team in the game, I would have rooted for the Ravens' John Harbaugh, the nicer and classier brother.

5) The young, speedy 49ers look like they'll have more chances at a ring, but one never knows. Just ask Dan Marino, who was the losing quarterback in his second season and never returned to the big game.

6) The power failure delay should make a lot of people forget about the night the lights went out in Candlestick.

7) Near game's end, the Ravens ran off time by running around in the end zone and conceding a safety (two points). The Ravens held the 49ers defenders, a penalty that normally results in a safety, but in this case the penalty was meaningless. Additional seconds were burned off. Perhaps multiple end zone infractions should result in a penalty on the kick-off.

8) The 49ers had better individual players, but the Ravens played better team football. They deserved to win.

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