Ravens Edge Out 49ers 34-31 to Win Super Bowl XLVII

At the end of the first half, and into the first few minutes of the second, it looked as though the Baltimore Ravens had this Super Bowl win in the bag since before they even entered the Superdome in New Orleans. But one very big outage shed some light for the 49ers, and when the lights were back up, they came back to nearly take back a game that had clearly gotten away from them.

Joe Flacco was voted MVP after the game, and his three first-half touchdown passes that put the Ravens up 21-6 before halftime were undoubtedly a huge reason why. He touted himself as the best quarterback in the league at the beginning of the year, and yesterday he might just have proven himself right.

Coming back from halftime, the Ravens showed no signs of slowing down, with Jacoby Jones returning the second-half kickoff 108 yards for another touchdown. That move put him in the history books, as it was a first for the Super Bowl; and it also put Baltimore up 28-6.

Then, the lights went out.

For reasons that still seem to be largely unknown, the Super Dome lost all lights and seemingly, all power somewhere around the 13-minute mark in the third quarter. The lights slowly started turning back on, announcers were once again able to go on air; but it was still a very long 34 minutes before play resumed. During that time, fans waited impatiently and players tried to keep warm and loose on the field. But when the power was back, it was clear that something was different.

It wasn’t so much that the Ravens were worse returning after the power outage, but the 49ers were just so much better than they had been all game. In just under four minutes of play, the 49ers scored 17 points in a row, bringing the score up to 31-29. They were still behind, but only by two. When they decided to go for the two points though, Kaepernick’s pass went high past Michael Crabtree and out of bounds. The Ravens would get the ball back, and just enough time to keep it, too.

In the final minutes, Ravens’ kicker Justin Tucker kicked a 19-yard field goal to give the Ravens another three, from which time they basically ran the clock out.

There really was no team that was better or worse during this year’s Super Bowl. Each team had exactly 17 downs, and about equal yardage. They both also had nearly the same amount of points; and in a game that many predicted would be won by who had the ball last, it turns out that’s just what it was.

Categorized in: NFL