Who would have thought that the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens would be playing in Super Bowl XLVII? People are already calling this game the ‘HarBowl’ as 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh will be facing against his brother John Harbaugh who is the Ravens head coach.
The parents of these two coaches have to be excited for the both of them but who will they root for in this game? I guess they have to be on neutral sides for this one because this should be a good game. The way that second-year head coach Jim Harbaugh has turned the 49ers franchise around is amazing. From not making the playoffs for eight straight seasons, to playing in two NFC Championship games and making the Super Bowl in only two seasons is impressive. The big talk about the 49ers this year is not only about them making the Super Bowl but also the quarterback carousel the team went through. When Alex Smith went down in week 10, Colin Kaepernick stepped in and took the NFL by storm.
The second-year quarterback out of Nevada has had a season that only players have dreamed about. When Kaepernick started his first game and threw for over 200 yards passing and two touchdowns against the Chicago Bears, who were leading the NFL in takeaways, the question started to boil up. Who would start at quarterback? Coach Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback, decided to let Kaepernick start for the rest of the season and he hasn’t disappointed him or the team. The dual threat quarterback has led his team through a tough playoff field all the way to New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII.
The Ravens have a story of their own as well. When the heart and soul of the team, linebacker Ray Lewis, went down in week 6, everyone thought that the Ravens were done. Their season was done for and Lewis’s career was over. With already key injuries to the defense that’s what a lot of people thought but the Ravens kept their mentality and continued to work and play hard. The Ravens won the AFC North Division and Lewis was returning from his injury to play in the playoffs. Lewis said before the playoffs began, that he will retire after the Ravens playoff run and the run hasn’t stopped yet.
After a classic double overtime thriller in Denver against the Broncos and beating the Patriots on the road in the AFC Championship game in Foxborough, Lewis is looking for his second Super Bowl ring since 2001. Wouldn’t that be a nice way to end a career with a Super Bowl victory? The Harbaugh brothers will play against each other for the second time in two years but this time it’s for the Lombardi Trophy.
Who will come out on top? It’s tough to say. This game will be a defensive battle with colliding against one another but also you have two elite offenses going against each other. My prediction for this game: San Francisco 49ers-17 Baltimore Ravens-21. Lewis will get one last Super Bowl ring before he calls it quits. This year’s ‘HarBowl’ will be a classic Super Bowl game.