Super Bowl 47 Reaction

Well, well, well. Look at who played a somewhat complete game and beat the San Francisco 49ers to become the Super Bowl Champions.

As the game went on, it was clear who the better team was: The Baltimore Ravens. Flacco was playing like Peyton Manning and went up 21-6 at the half. Like I said, the Ravens defense were zoned in on this read option and Kaepernick looked like a deer in the headlights. The so called greatest receiver of all time Randy Moss ha 0 catches, they couldn't get anything done on the ground, and could barely get the passing game going. Colin even threw up a duck that landed right in Ed Reed's lap. I knew the Niners defense wasn't that great, but 21-6? The Ravens were looking like a very dominant team. Boldin was having a great game, Jacoby Jones had that fantastic TD catch and run play, and it looked like it was going to get uglier.

Sure there were some questionable moments like The Ravens not trusting their kicker TWICE in the first half. Punting on a long FG try was smart, but I think Tucker could've made it. And then trying the fake FG to try to pick up the first down. It almost worked but to no avail. It was also obvious that John was coaching circles around Jim. How the Niners come out with an illegal formation on the FIRST PLAY OF THE GAME is weird.

Beyonce's performance was absolutely sensational. She is the perfect woman, great voice, great look, amazing dancing ability, and the body. I thought Alicia Keys performance was great, but Beyonce's took it to a whole other level. Bringing in Destiny's Child was a nice touch too. Would've liked them to perform "Say My Name, but I digress.

Kelly Rowland was looking pretty damn good too. Michelle will probably get no love out of this whole thing, but I think all 3 females did a great job. Nothing more, nothing less. This Halftime Show blows last year's out of the water. The last good one was the Justin Timberlake/Janet Jackson incident. Maybe this is the start of bringing prominence back to the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Great job Beyonce. Jay-Z is a lucky man.

The third quarter got started and started in a BIG way. Jacoby Jones runs the opening kickoff back all the way to the house for a 109 yards and a COMMANDING 28-6 lead over the 49ers. If it didn't look bad before, it was getting gruesome for the 49ers, and then.....the Lights when Out. I don't think something like this has ever happened before. This outage took about 34 minutes, the Ravens momentum was completely shot and The Niners had a chance to make the necessary adjustments to their gameplan.

I'm gonna be honest here, if the Niners had come back to win this game, this power outage should've been looked into. It's TOO convenient how The Ravens were ROLLING on offense, all of a sudden, the lights go out, killing the Raven's momentum allowing the Niners to outscore Baltimore 25-6 the rest of the way.

Then again, it could've been the work of The Undertaker.

Getting back to the game, The Niners had a surge of fire and they started to roll on offense. The read option was beginning to work, the running game began to pick up chunks of yards, and Kaepernick began to make plays with that cannon arm and his feet. He was making clutch plays and before you knew it, 28-6 was 28-23. The Ravens needed to make some clutch plays and THIS is why DEFENSE wins Championships.

The Ravens looking like they were about to lose their lead, Flacco leads his team and drives the length of the field with Boldin, who was making clutch plays all over the field, go down and extend their lead to 31-23. The Niners came back, on a very fantastic drive in my opinion, and scored making 31-29. The Niners tried going for two, but it was not to be. Ed Reed sprinted off the edge, undetected by LeMichael James and pressured Kapernick into a hesitation throw and just tosses it out of bounds. Ravens tack on another FG making it 34-29 and the Niners get the ball back.

And then here was the biggest moment of the game, The Niners were inside the 5 yard line and The Ravens HELD. They prevented Kaepernick and Company to take the lead. And then there was the so called, "holding" call on 4th and Goal. Ok, I admit, Jimmy Smith was holding, but then what Crabtree did afterwards was an obvious offensive pass interference. Both men held, but in this game, you have to let the guys play. You don't make that call. There a NUMBER of bad calls by the way including that BS running into the kicker call in the second half, but I digress. Backed up in their own territory, the punter gets the ball and runs around in the endzone and chews up about 10 seconds. Extremely smart move. This is why John Harbaugh is an outstanding HC. The Niners had no shot when they got ball back with just 4 seconds.

DEFENSE wins Championships. Goal Line Stand moments are what defines how dominant and elite a defense truly is.


Last Words:

- The game wasn't as bad as people are saying. It got exciting towards the end. Which makes the power outage look like more of an inside job, but it could've been a lot uglier. It got better and suspenseful. Great game.

- It was a great moment seeing the Harbaugh Brothers after the game.

- Ray Lewis' emotional speech after getting the trophy was AMAZING.

- Like I said, Karma came back to bite the 49ers. Alex Smith is probably saying, "we would've won if it was me." Well maybe. We'll never really know. The Cardinals or The Jets are awaiting Mr. Smith's arrival.

- The commercials were HORRIBLE. There were at least one or two good ones. The Rock's Got Milk Commercial was great, the M & Ms commercial was funny, but the rest were just downright outlandish. Especially the one with the "nerd" making out with the sexy model. The fact that they had to ZOOM IN was irritating.

- Flacco is a GREAT QB, but I'm not calling him Elite yet. The Media will just forget that his defense didn't come up clutch when they needed to be.

- Early Prediction: Ravens won't be back here next year. They had a great run this season, but I don't see the repeat. But for now, The Ravens are the Super Bowl Champions! Ray Lewis' journey is finally complete and he can move on to bigger and better things in his life. I'll leave you with one final image of the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time)

Feel free to Comment.


By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

Super Bowl Predictions

The Ravens and 49ers both have had their struggles this season, but when January came, both teams turned their game up several notches. This is why both teams are in the Super Bowl this year. It's The Baltimore Ravens vs The San Francisco 49ers for the right to be Super Bowl Champions of the National Football League.

Let me say, it's actually a pleasure to see two fresh teams in the Super Bowl. It was always the whole Patriots, Colts, Steelers vs Random NFC Team, repeat, repeat, etc. So, this will be a treat. I've heard people cry about how the ratings won't be good because there's no big names involved. It's the Super Bowl. The SUPER BOWL. The ratings will be fine. 

Before I get to the Super Bowl, I wanna talk about the Pro Bowl. I don't think the NFL will get rid of it. They should add to it. Right now, the NBA has the best All-Star Weekend lineup out of all the sports. So many events and competitions and it ends with the All-Star Game. The NFL should go back to having different activities. A Field Goal kicking contest, a 40 yard dash race with the fastest stars in the NFL, an accuracy skills challenge for the QBs, and a Celebrity Flag Football game. Just having the Pro Bowl is eh. The stadium is never filled all the time and it's just annoying and boring to watch at times. If they were to include these activities, then the hype and everything would keep people interested and keep them in Hawaii until the Pro Bowl. It's a simple solution to a simple problem. Imagine seeing Adrian Peterson race against Chris Johnson, or Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Drew Brees in an accuracy challenge, or seeing celebrities show their skills in a flag football game. Food for thought Mr. Goodell.

Let's get to the game. ESPN has said The Ravens have not faced a defense like the Niners yet. The Niners have not faced a defense like the Ravens yet either. The Ravens are not going to let Kapernick run all over them like Green Bay did. Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs have been studying that read option and they're going to be ready. And after this postseason, I've got newfound respect for Joe Flacco. The Denver game was whatever, but he still won. And then he threw 3 TDs on Tom Brady's team. Flacco is playing some damn good Football. The Niners defense isn't exactly elite. They've got power and speed up front and rush the passer, but their secondary isn't exactly shutdown. Their secondary is good, but they've been known to give up the big play here and there. I have faith that Flacco will have a big game with the help of Boldin and Ray Rice. He's got a lot of options to spread the field, but the Niners are rugged players. They will get their hits and they can hurt people. Let's not forget that. 

The 49ers, as much as I am NOT a fan of how they treated Alex Smith this season, they are in the Super Bowl nonetheless with Colin Kapernick. He took over this team and used the read option to perfection leading his team to a blowout win over Green Bay and a comeback win on the road in Atlanta. But the Niners have not faced a defense like this before. Ed Reed is going to be ready, the Ravens' corners are not scrubs either. The Ravens' have some serious power on their defensive line with Kruger and Ngata leading the charge. But Kapernick has really come alive and has found a favorite target in Crabtree and he's got so many other options with Vernon Davis, Randy Moss, and now LeMichael James. This team can come at you and beat you in so many different ways. Kapernick can run and the man has an arm. This has been well documented. But this is a tall task, even for the 49ers. How will Kaepernick play against a defense like this. The man can play, but this defense is primed and ready to stop whatever he's got planned. It's not going to be as easy as people think. 

And we have the Harbaugh Brothers. We're going to find out who the better Coach is. We know these two aren't going to play conservative and play not to lose. These teams are almost mirror images of each other. The defenses hit hard and force turnovers, and their QBs aren't too bad either. 

Time to pick a winner. I've got the Baltimore Ravens. It's funny how this works out. I picked the Niners to get to the Super Bowl and I've picked against them all month and I'm still going against them. I just don't trust Colin Kapernick in this position. I have more faith in Joe Flacco than Colin Kapernick. The Niners have the better team, but the best team doesn't always win the big game. It's about who has the better coaching and gameplan coming into the game. Ray Lewis has been a BIG difference maker for this team all postseason long. It's Ray's last game and Ed Reed's last game. A LOT of people are picking the 49ers, but I've got the Ravens. 

Coming from a personal standpoint, Karma has yet to hit the 49ers for their poor treatment of Alex Smith. Things have gone far TOO perfect for the 49ers. I feel like it's going to be a rude awakening for the Niners. The Ravens will defeat the 49ers and bring them down to earth and back to reality. God help the world if the Niners win. The Colin Kaepernick, Joe Montana, and Steve Young comparisons will be overwhelming for days to follow. Ray Lewis and Ed Reed go out with a ring. Joe Flacco and Ray Rice get their first.

Prediction: Ravens defeat 49ers

Feel free to Comment.

By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete