The City of New Orleans interrupted the traditional Mardi Gras celebration to take time out for Super Bowl XLVII played in the Super Dome on Feb. 3.
Much to do was made out of the fact that the opposing coaches for this championship matchup are, in fact, brothers. The brothers themselves did their best to down play the relationship down but the press would not let it rest.
The other center of attention is Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis who had previously announced that he would be retiring after this season after 17 years in the NFL.
A badly timed exposé by Sports Illustrated came out just 5 days before the big game implicating Lewis with a clinic in South Florida dispensing PED’s….in this case, Deer Antler Extract. According to Lewis he, “never, ever took the stuff”.
Fans from Baltimore, San Francisco and the rest of the nation enjoyed the great southern hospitality of New Orleans and the French Quarter where they found some of the best food & drink on the planet. The Big Easy is at its best in party mode and 49er & Ravens fans did their part to keep the festivities in full swing.
Quarterback Joe Flacco turned out to be the hero of the day and took home the Super Bowl XLVII Most Valuable Player Award. He completed 22 of 33 passes for a total of 287 yards and 3 touchdowns…….and, perhaps most importantly, no interceptions. 49ers Rookie Quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw for 302 yards in this only his 10th game in the NFL. No dishonor there.
Baltimore dominated the first half holding San Francisco to a pair of field goals while Flacco tossed three passes for touchdowns of 13, 1 & 56 yards…. to three different receivers. Jacoby Jones took the second half kickoff back for a record breaking 108 yards to run the score up to 28-6……..and then the lights went out in a large part of the Super Dome and stayed off for about 34 minutes.
When the lights came back on it was the 49ers time to shine and by early in the fourth quarter the Ravens lead had been cut to 31-29. A final drive by Kaepernick and the 49ers ended in frustration as a fourth down pass to Michael Crabtree went incomplete amid loud protests from the San Francisco sidelines.
Congratulations to Head Coach John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens on winning Super Bowl XLVII.
