Defense Wins Championships

The 49ers will be going for their 6th title
as the Ravens take a shot at their second.

The New York Giants and Green Bay Packers are the last two teams to win the Super Bowl.  While their defenses weren't great during the regular season, they did step up and perform at a high level during the playoffs.  The San Francisco 49ers have been superb on defense for most of the season but the Baltimore Ravens were not as they were ranked 17th in the league.  But since the post season started, the Ravens have got healthy and better defensively and that's the reason why they find themselves back in the Super Bowl for the first time since 2000.

Both the Ravens and Niners pitched shut outs in the second half of their respective games this past Sunday.  They both faced deficits at half time and came back strong in the 3rd quarter on both sides of the ball.  Without those second half performances by the defense, neither the Ravens or 49ers would be headed to New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII.

San Francisco adjusted their game plan a bit on defense by using more "Nickle" coverage to compensate for Atlanta's early success in the passing game.  Matty Ice melted himself because the kid was absolutely on fire.  Jones, White and Gonzalez were getting open all over the place, predominately out of the slot position where the Niners were forced to cover those monsters with linebackers.  That's something San Fran has had success with all season but they really hadn't gone up against a passing attack like the Falcons.  The 49ers got burned early.

It's a new crop of players and coaches
in this years Super Bowl.

What's most impressive about the 49ers win is that they were down 17 - 0 quick and in a hurry as Julio Jones simply exploded.  He has rapidly become one of the best wide receivers in the NFL and he showed it Sunday with 182 yards and 2 touchdowns.  But the Niners stayed resilient and stuck to the game plan on offense.  They continued to run the ball which led to Kaepernick finding open receivers all afternoon, namely Vernon Davis who lit up that Falcons secondary for 106 yards and a TD.  Atlanta was so concerned about Kaepernick running the ball to the outside that they forgot to cover the middle of the field.  The Niners remained poised on offense but it was their defense that won them the game with huge plays late including a couple of turnovers.

Same thing applies to the Ravens victory.  Baltimore didn't scheme up any crazy game plan.  They just did what they do best like the Niners and that's line up and hit you in the mouth.  The Ravens played tough on defense all game long but they really got it together in the second half.  Facing a 13 - 7 deficit at the half, the Ravens came out in the 3rd quarter and took over the game.  Joe Flacco leading the offense to 21 unanswered points gave the defense the extra jolt it needed to get some of those older bodies out there and leave it all out on the field.  And of course you have to feel great for Ray Lewis if you're a fan.  This retirement ride may be even more than he expected.

On Super Bowl Sunday, the Harbaugh boys
will truly have a love-hate relationship.

So now here we are...headed back to New Orleans for another Super Bowl with an interesting twist and play on words.  Brothers Jim and John Harbaugh will be squaring off in a match up of the minds in what is being dubbed "The Harbowl."  What an amazing and unlikely scenario that two brothers could reach the pinnacles of their career and be coaching against each other in the biggest sporting event in this country.  That truly is an incredible story in itself.

Another cool twist to this game is that we'll finally have a quarterback without names like Manning, Brady, Brees or Rodgers win the big game.  All the talk about having to be an "elite" quarterback to win the Super Bowl may still in fact hold true.  I don't believe nor does anybody else for that matter, that Flacco or Kaepernick is on the "elite" level just yet but you can say that Flacco is at least approaching that possibility and Kaepernick is as a unique and gifted a QB as we have ever seen.

Joe Flacco said he was the best QB in football.
Well he sure played like it in Foxborough.

Joe Flacco deserves our respect.  Every year he's been in the NFL he has made the playoffs and won at least one game.  Three times he has gone to the AFC title game and now he is going to the Super Bowl as the leader of this offense.  Flacco has thrown 8 TD's against zero interceptions this post season.  He once again out performed Tom Brady in his own house and really showed America that he can play some ball.

Young Colin Kaepernick may be the QB that you would want to start your team with.  He showed us that he can win a game with his legs in the Divisional round against the Packers and proved that he can also do it with his arm in the Conference Championship victory over the Falcons.  Kap has serious zip on his fastball and is very accurate.  Plus the kid doesn't turn over the football.  He's a duel threat if I've ever seen one and is an absolute nightmare for defensive coordinators.

Kaepernick and Davis finally got on the same
page.  Can they continue that success to a
Super Bowl victory?

Despite the different style of quarterback play between the Ravens and 49ers, they are almost mirror images of each other.  Maybe that's because two people from the same bloodline coach each team.  Both Baltimore and San Francisco like to run the ball to set up the pass and have top level running backs to get the job done.  They each have 2 big receiving threats as the Ravens have Boldin and Smith and the Niners have Davis and Crabtree.  They both play and believe in solid defense but their styles are exactly the same.  Neither team tries to trick you too much.  They just line up and smash you in the face.  They both have big bodies on the offensive and defensive line and use those pieces to control the line of scrimmage.





As always, turnovers will play a major factor in this game.  Neither team is really prone to turnovers so it could be just one or two in this game that can change everything.  The Niners secondary has struggled a bit lately and Flacco has his deep passing game working with his duel WR threats, not to mention Dennis Pitta who has become a touchdown machine.  The Ravens will need to decide how to play this one on defense.  Do they spy Kaepernick?  Do they sit back in a soft zone and read what the kid is doing and thinking?  Or maybe they just try to pressure him all night long by blitzing with Suggs and some of their cornerbacks as they like to do.  This game will definitely be a chess match to some extent since both coaches know each other so well.  This has a chance to be one of the best and most unique Super Bowls we have ever seen.