Following a half-hour power outage that disrupted the Super Bowl, the San Francisco 49ers surged to erase a 22-point deficit before falling just short to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31.
The Ravens’ advantage would prove large enough to withstand a furious comeback effort by San Francisco and to win Super Bowl XLVII at the Superdome in New Orleans.
Sunday night’s victory is the Ravens’ second Super Bowl title. They defeated the New York Giants during the 2000 season. It will also give the Ravens head coach, John Harbaugh, boasting rights over his younger brother, Jim Harbaugh, the 49ers’ head coach.
A 13-yard pass from Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco down the middle to Anquan Boldin opened scoring for the Ravens. And there was a lot more to follow.
A quarter later, the Ravens knocked the ball loose from rookie running back LaMichael James at their own 25 and then drove 74 yards down to the one, where Flacco found tight end Dennis Pitta for the score.
On the subsequent possession, a turnover would again cut the San Francisco drive to an abrupt end when Colin Kaepernick fired high over his target receiver and into the awaiting hands of Baltimore’s Ed Reed.
Lining up 32 yards out, rookie kicker Justin Tucker took the snap and sprinted left toward the first down marked nine yards away only to be stopped inches before, pushed out of bounds and forced to forfeit possession. It was the first fake field goal in Super Bowl history.
But the 49ers couldn’t take advantage of the defense’s performance and quickly returned the ball to Baltimore.
Flacco stepped up to evade pressure and heaved the ball downfield to a streaking, wide-open Jacoby Jones, who somersaulted — his knee not touching the ground — and got up to maneuver his way past the final defender. It was a 56-yard connection.
David Akers, the veteran kicker who missed a field goal two weeks ago against Atlanta, was not the source of any worry this game, as he converted each of his three field-goal attempts. Pitt alum and San Francisco punter Andy Lee continued the high level of performance he has demonstrated all season, averaging 53 yards per kick.
On the first play of the second half, Jones’ speed would change the game again. He caught the kickoff and sprinted 108 yards practically untouched to the opposite end zone. His second touchdown of the night fell just short of the all-time record for longest play in league history with 109 yards and was his third kick return touchdown this season, all of which have been for more than 105 yards.
At 22 points, the lead was the largest the Ravens would hold all night. And they appeared to have all of the momentum.
And then, in the middle of the ensuing San Francisco possession, a partial power outage hit the Superdome, stopping play for 34 minutes.
Once play resumed, the pattern of play continued with the trailing team not taking advantage of an opportunity that appeared to be in its favor, and the score remained 28-6.
But after another stand by the 49ers’ defense, the offense began to come back, guided by Kapernick’s strong arm down the field and culminating in a score.
And then on the following drive, the usually sure-handed Baltimore running back Ray Rice fumbled the ball without getting hit. The Niners would respond again with Frank Gore scoring his only touchdown.
Not soon after, with San Francisco holding possession yet again, Akers pushed a 39-yard attempt left, but a 5-yard running into the kicker penalty gave him a second chance, which he converted.
And suddenly going into the final quarter, a 22-point deficit became five in a matter of minutes.
A last-ditch goal-line effort by the San Francisco defense forced the Ravens to settle for a field goal by Tucker.
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