DESTINY UNDONE 49ERS FALL TO RAVENS 34-31

VS

By Scary Barry Rodriguez         February 4, 2013

Superdome, New Orleans, La - Hours before Superbowl XLVII the streets in the San Francisco bay area were awash with the red and god colors of the San Francisco 49ers. There wasn't a shopping mall , liquor store, gas station or street where fans wearing 49er gear weren't in evidence. In the nights leading up to the clash between the 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens even the skysrapers in the City were lit                                                      with red and gold lights.

The day arrived soon enough that coaching brothers Jim and John Harbaugh faced off ! The Superdome was in all its glory. A far cry from the days of hurricane Katrina , when cold and hungry masses of people were sheltered within its bowels. But this day was different. A joyous celebration of America's number one sport , football ! The beginning of one career , that of Colin Kapaepernick and the the end of another , the Raven's storied linebacker          Ray Lewis. There were enough plot lines for twenty blockbuster movies !

From the very start of the game the 49ers seemed out of sync on the offense. The Ravens offense led by QB Joe Flacco immediately picked on the weaknesses in the 49er secondary by going after CB Chris Culliver. In the previous playoff games, both the Green Bay Packers and the Alanta Falcons were successful going over the top and beating Culliver and the over agressive safeties                     Donte Whitner and Dashon Goldson. The Baltimore Ravens scored 21 points against the much vaunted 49er defense. It didn't help that the Niner offense could only muster six points on two David Akers field goals. The 49ers appeared sluggish for the entire first half. At this point many in the stands , in the media and at home were already writing San Francisco off. The halftime score was 21-6 in favor of Baltimore.


 




 








Beyonce' was the halftime show. There was lots of shaking but not much music. These extraganzas suffer from too much pre-recorded music and lip sync nonsense. Calling these performances live is misleading ! The television viewers had to be content with bathroom breaks and beer ! Coming out of the break in play, the question was will the 49er offense get untracked ?

The start of the second half didn't bode well for San Francisco. Baltimore received the opening kickoff. Jacoby Jones then raced through the 49er Special team coverage like tissue paper. After a 108 yard scamper and the touchdown the score stood at 28-6 in favor of the Ravens. Midway through the third quarter Kaepernick led the Niners on a 7 play 80 yard drive for a score. Michael Crabtree caught a 31 yard bullet and ran it in for a touchdown. The score was 28-13. Then the stadium lights went out !



 











After 35 minutes power was restored and game play resumed. The 49er defense started tightening up. Then Ted Ginn Jr. made a 32 yard punt return to the Raven's twenty yard line. This led to another scoring drive that culminated in Frank Gore running it in from six yards out. The score was now 28-20. Again the defense held for San Francisco. Flacco was being pressure by a stronger pass rush. On the offense Kaepernick exploited a fumble recovery by CB Tarrell Brown to go on another drive. David Akers then booted a 34 yard field goal to put the score at 28-23 in favor of the Ravens.

Baltimore's defense was wearing down going into the fourth quarter. At the start of the quarter their offense put up three more points on a Tucker field goal from 19 yards out . The score was 31-23 and momentum had shifted in the 49ers favor despite this. Kaepernick directed the offense on a 5 play 76 yard drive. With every receiver covered Kaepernick took the ball in from 15 yards out to put the score at 31-29. A attempt at a two point conversion failed. This awoke the Baltimore offense . Joe Flacco led the Ravens on a 10 play 59 yard scoring drive that culminated in anoter Tucker field goal from 38 yards out. The was now 34-29.

 






The 49ers had one last chance to win. With 4:19 left on the game clock they had ample time to pull off a great come back. They drove the ball down to the 5 yard line but  couldn't  put it into the end zone in four tries ! It was a mystery to me and the over seventy one thousand fans at the Superdome what  Greg Roman's stratedgy was ! The confetti came down and a dejected 49er team strode to the locker room. Not long afterwards in the San Francisco bay area the night time streets were quiet and almost empty. The Police on overtime went home early and the game was only a memory. The Baltimore Ravens had won Superbowl XLVII .


 








The 49ers played well enough to contest but not win the ball game ! It was a courageous struggle to the very end ! Joe Flacco of the Ravens played a mistake free game and that was the crucial difference. The San Francisco 49ers weren't good enough to transcend their own mistakes and all the bad calls by the game officials. It doesn't matter now that on the fourth down pass play to                Michael Crabtree in the end zone for the win, the Raven's Jim Smith was on his back ! Its now irrelevant that many Ravens special team player's were holding on the 108 yard kickoff return by Jocoby Jones ! Good teams dominate and by doing so eliminate the chance of losing ! Forget the statistics ! Look forward to the 2013 season !