*** official super bowl xlvii game thread ***

[z926538]

Ravens in the middle of an epic meltdown. Will Flacco pull a a Melty Ice or will he pull this one out?

Would that be the same Melty Ice who has one more playoff win than Jake Long? Congrats to the Ravens for pulling it out in the end!

[DisturbedShifty]

Well damn. I was hoping the Niners would have won. Oh well.

[Vertical Limit]

The time out before the delay of game really screwed things up. I don't understand why they didn't try to pound the ball in when they were within five yards away. They went 4 straight passing plays when you have Frank freaking Gore and a running quarterback. Just ridiculous. I would have ran a quarterback sneak 4 times especially when you got a big strong guy like Colin.

[roy_miami]

Kaepernick cost the 9ers 2 timeouts in the second half which ended up being big. The 9ers looked pretty sloppy, especially in the first half, htf do you have an illegal formation on the first play of the game. Leadership was the difference, John Harbaugh was the better coach today, had them better prepared and don't underestimate having leaders like Ray Lewis and Anquan Boldin out there, those guys are basically like having an extra layer of coaches.

[uk_dolfan]

Would that be the same Melty Ice who has one more playoff win than Jake Long? Congrats to the Ravens for pulling it out in the end!

One more win than Long? Doesnt sound like Matty Ice is having a terribly successful career then lol

[Vaark]

Would that be the same Melty Ice who has one more playoff win than Jake Long? Congrats to the Ravens for pulling it out in the end!

I think at this point, the debate over Long vs Matty Melt is irrelevant; The debate on whether we should have traded up to the mid teens after taking Long to grab the guy who's now won several diviisionals, was a dropped end zone pass away from 2 SB appearances, has cashed into the post season all 5 years, winning at least 1 game in each, is 9-4 in the postseason and this year has thrown 11 TDs to no interceptions is now nearing its end. Since hindsight for all is always 20/20, the present most relevant debate is whether we should have taken Flacco first.. period!

[Awsi Dooger]

Some observations:

* I thought it was apropos that the 49ers squandered chances at the end of the first half and end of the game when they chose intentional roll outs. Those plays have extremely low success rate in the NFL, as I've posted often recently. You essentially cut off half the field on yourself. Phil Simms summarized well, "The defense rolls with you." Apparently many of the coordinators don't study the situational percentages.

* Kaepernick has a great arm but lacks ideal touch. I was rooting for the Ravens and didn't mind when the 49ers were starting on the 7 yard line on the final drive, as opposed to 15 yard line or inside the 5. That was similar to the predicament the Falcons faced at the end of the game against San Francisco. It's too far to be confident about running it in, yet the passing windows are tightened. Brady and Rodgers can adjust to any evolving requirement of the play but Kaepernick too often can merely wing it on a line. He missed a touchdown early in the game when Ed Reed forced his hand. I thought the 49ers should have tried Kaepernick's feet at least once, like Vince Young scoring the winning touchdown on 4th down against USC in 2005

* Baltimore and Flacco always seem like a lazy team and offense, not particularly bothered when they blow key opportunities. Consequently I never thought they'd pull out the ultimate prize. Even yesterday it showed up, failing to convert touchdowns on their final two drives. They had a stupid hurried play call at the 1 yard line on 3rd down, then Pitta drops the vital 3rd down play on the next drive. Classic Ravens, like the end zone drop against New England last season. Somehow they got away with it this time.

* The 4th down play to end the game was extremely reminiscent of the controversial 4th down overtime play between Miami and Ohio State 10 years ago. I thought of it immediately. Obviously I'm biased but I prefer it this way, decided on the field. Marshall Faulk made the valid point, that the defenders had been allowed to play aggressively in the secondary all game long. You can't change the interpretation on the critical play, as Terry Porter did in the Fiesta Bowl. That game, too, had been free of cheap flags in the secondary. Last night the referees saw an immediate blitzer at Kaepernick's feet, and a quick bail out fade pass that lands out of bounds. No way an offense can be rescued in that situation. The coverage looked normal in real speed. Only in super slow motion without focus on Kaepernick's predicament did it seem questionable.

* Jim Harbaugh really screwed up, calling the second time out. I was shocked. It essentially meant one chance instead of two. As long as you have two time outs you'll still retain 50 seconds after the punt,. With one time out you need a miracle. Besides, 5 yards at that stage wasn't a big deal, and actually might have meant more freedom to run different plays.

[j-off-her-doll]

Some observations:

* I thought it was apropos that the 49ers squandered chances at the end of the first half and end of the game when they chose intentional roll outs. Those plays have extremely low success rate in the NFL, as I've posted often recently. You essentially cut off half the field on yourself. Phil Simms summarized well, "The defense rolls with you." Apparently many of the coordinators don't study the situational percentages.

* Kaepernick has a great arm but lacks ideal touch. I was rooting for the Ravens and didn't mind when the 49ers were starting on the 7 yard line on the final drive, as opposed to 15 yard line or inside the 5. That was similar to the predicament the Falcons faced at the end of the game against San Francisco. It's too far to be confident about running it in, yet the passing windows are tightened. Brady and Rodgers can adjust to any evolving requirement of the play but Kaepernick too often can merely wing it on a line. He missed a touchdown early in the game when Ed Reed forced his hand. I thought the 49ers should have tried Kaepernick's feet at least once, like Vince Young scoring the winning touchdown on 4th down against USC in 2005

* Baltimore and Flacco always seem like a lazy team and offense, not particularly bothered when they blow key opportunities. Consequently I never thought they'd pull out the ultimate prize. Even yesterday it showed up, failing to convert touchdowns on their final two drives. They had a stupid hurried play call at the 1 yard line on 3rd down, then Pitta drops the vital 3rd down play on the next drive. Classic Ravens, like the end zone drop against New England last season. Somehow they got away with it this time.

* The 4th down play to end the game was extremely reminiscent of the controversial 4th down overtime play between Miami and Ohio State 10 years ago. I thought of it immediately. Obviously I'm biased but I prefer it this way, decided on the field. Marshall Faulk made the valid point, that the defenders had been allowed to play aggressively in the secondary all game long. You can't change the interpretation on the critical play, as Terry Porter did in the Fiesta Bowl. That game, too, had been free of cheap flags in the secondary. Last night the referees saw an immediate blitzer at Kaepernick's feet, and a quick bail out fade pass than lands out of bounds. No way an offense can be rescued in that situation. The coverage looked normal in real speed. Only in super slow motion without focus on Kaepernick's predicament did it seem questionable.

* Jim Harbaugh really screwed up, calling the second time out. I was shocked. It essentially meant one chance instead of two. As long as you have two time outs you'll still retain 50 seconds after the punt,. With one time out you need a miracle. Besides, 5 yards at that stage wasn't a big deal, and actually might have meant more freedom to run different plays.

There was a far less obvious PI call that did go against San Fran and led to a Ravens TD. I don't think the refs were consistent in that regard.