SUPER BOWL XLVII: Post-game Report

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.  .  .   SPORTS NOTEBOOK posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of each week. Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner.

SUPER BOWL XLVII    ---     More re. the Baltimore Ravens raid vs. the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, February 5---Until then, Baltimore’s 34-31 Super Bowl XLVII win over San Francisco seems like the menu for a buffet after the meal’s been devoured. Take your pick among highlights---

• Ravens QB Joe Flacco as game MVP with three TD’s vs. the SF 49ers, number one TD early in the first period, the Ravens maintaining a lead until endgame.
• Flacco’s last TD being his 12^th for the 2012/13 post-season, tying a 1989 record set by SF QB, Joe Montana.
• SF QB Colin Kaepernick implying that he’s the NFL’s best upcoming “all around” QB (the Super Bowl was only his 10^th start) from expert passing plus his Mercury-on-wheels rushing.
• The Ravens Jacoby Jones 108 yard kick return for a TD.
• SF coming back from a 28-6 spread in the second half, one of the more remarkable comebacks in Super Bowl history.
• Those final moments in the game when the 49er’s offense may have wrapped it all up in their favor.
• Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis ending his career with a Super Bowl ring.

            IF it’s a win that advises which is the better team, then so be it! the Ravens commanded, deserved the Super Bowl trophy.

BUT---when the fourth period closed, Super Bowl XLVII suddenly history, the 49ers were a lot more than a gallant effort. The 49ers had surpassed the Ravens in nearly all key performance categories, for instance, the 49ers achieved more first downs than the Ravens had: 23 over 21; and, they gained more total net yards than the Ravens had: 468 versus 367, within which were more net 49er yards from rushing, 182-93, and more 49er passing yards gained, 286 vs. 274.

As to yards gained per play, the 49ers stayed ahead, 9.2 vs. the Ravens 7.8.

Too, the 49ers accomplished its leading feats within less possession time than the Ravens used up to achieve theirs, 27 minutes vs. the Ravens 32 minutes.

However, the Ravens “end zone attack sufficiency” punished the 49ers, resulting in more TD’s, simply “more points on the board.” Make no mistake, the 49ers obtained first-and-goal access enough times to go past the Ravens with a TD, but reaching the base of a summit and then "not summiting," such causes all that came before to have less meaning, first item in the record book being, “WINNER over Loser.”

More on this tomorrow, Tuesday, February 5, at SPORTS NOTEBOOK---sports-notebook.blogspot.com. Check out Mile High Sports, coverage at: milehighsports.com. Or: Mile High Sports radio---AM1510, or FM93.7.

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