The Baltimore Ravens survived a furious San Francisco rally and a 34-minute Superdome blackout to win Super Bowl XLVII 34-31 in what was Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis’ last game as a professional football player and the first major title game in any sport where two brothers coached against each other.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said his handshake with his brother Jim, who is San Francisco’s head coach, was the toughest thing he has ever had to do. He said Jim simply told him, “congratulations.” This was the second Super Bowl title for Baltimore.
San Francisco, trailing 34-29, had four chances inside the Baltimore ten-yard line to score a game-winning touchdown with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter and came up short when 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick could not connect with wide receiver Michael Crabtree. The 49ers stopped Baltimore on downs and Ravens punter Sam Koch took a safety in the waning seconds to make the final score 34-31.
Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco was voted the game’s MVP. He threw three touchdown passes, all in the first half.
Ravens kick returner Jacoby Jones opened the second half with a record-tying 108-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
And then, the lights went out. Literally.
The Super Bowl was delayed in the third quarter because the Superdome was hit with a power outage with 13:22 left in quarter, as San Francisco was trying to become the first team to rally from a ten-point halftime deficit. Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh, the brother of San Francisco head coach Jim Harbaugh, was livid during the power outage, sensing his team would get iced.
John Harbaugh was right, as the Ravens struggled after play resumed.
After the power outage, San Francisco scored on a Kaepernick touchdown pass to Crabtree to cut the lead to 28-13. That was followed by a Frank Gore touchdown run to cut Baltimore’s lead to 28-20. After a Ray Rice fumble, San Francisco kicker David Akers cut the lead to 28-23, before Baltimore went up 31-23 on a chip-shot field goal by Justin Tucker.
Kaepernick scored the longest touchdown in Super Bowl history with a 15-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to two, 31-29. San Francisco could not convert on the two-point conversion. Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker added a field goal on the Ravens next drive to make the score 34-29.
Flacco threw three touchdown passes to give Baltimore a 21-6 halftime lead at halftime.
With San Francisco driving in Baltimore territory in the second quarter while trailing 7-3 and looking like they would take a 10-7 lead, running back LaMichael James fumbled when he was hit by Baltimore’s Courtney Upshaw. The Ravens promptly scored when Flacco hit Dennis Pitta with a one-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing drive to give Baltimore a 14-3 lead.
When Baltimore was leading 14-3 and lining up for a field goal in the second half, the Ravens decided to run a fake. Kicker Justin Tucker did not get a first down and was tackled hard.
Baltimore opened the scoring when Flacco hit wide receiver Anquan Boldin for a touchdown pass. Flacco’s third touchdown pass came late in the second half to wide receiver Jacoby Jones. It was a 56-yard touchdown connection.
Embattled 49ers kicker David Akers made two field goals for San Francisco in the first half.
This was the first time San Francisco has lost in the Super Bowl. The 49ers had won five Super Bowls without a loss and were trying to the NFL record of six Super Bowl titles, which the Pittsburgh Steelers hold.
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