Lights Out Super Bowl

Photo by BOSTONHERALD.COM

David Otero
Sports Editor

The 2013 Super Bowl between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers had just about all you could ask for: a future Hall-of-Famer playing in his final game, the opposing coaches were brothers, a kick return for a touch­down, clutch throws on offense and big hits on defense, a Beyoncé halftime show, and even a power outage to add further drama.

It is estimated that over 108 million viewers tuned into the Super Bowl this year, which is actually a slight decline compared to last year’s 111.3 million viewers. In the game, despite nearly blowing a 21-6 halftime lead, the Ravens edged out the Niners by a final score of 34-31 to win their second Super Bowl in franchise history. Joe Flacco, the fifth-year quarterback for the Ravens, won MVP honors for his outstanding play. He completed 22 of his 33 passes for 287 yards. He also threw three touchdowns without throwing an interception.

Niners’ quarterback Colin Kae­pernick played well, but he needed to duplicate his effort from his two previ­ous games against the Falcons or Pack­ers to come away with a win against the Ravens and their suffocating defense. Kaepernick was 16-28 for 302 yards with one touchdown and one intercep­tion.

On the first drive of the game, the Niners were immediately stopped by the Ravens, and Baltimore began the contest with great field position. On the Ravens’ first trip down the field, Flacco connected with Anquan Boldin for a 13 yard score to make it 7-0. Flacco would continue to make big-time, elite throws throughout the half. Midway through the second quarter, Flacco found tight end Dennis Pitta for a one yard touch­down. Soon after, Flacco aired it out to Jacoby Jones for a 56 yard score. And just like that, the Ravens went into the Beyoncé-centered halftime leading 21-6.

From what could gather through social media, Beyoncé (and Destiny’s Child) absolutely killed it during halftime, and the show was a sure improvement from previous years’ entertainment choices such as Prince, The Who, and Madonna among oth­ers. However in a plot twist, after the sizzling performance by Beyoncé, the power at the Mercedes-Benz Super­dome went out. There’s obviously no handbook to revert to about what to do when the lights go out in one of the most televised events of the year — during the game! Some viewers at home may have flipped the channel during the 34 minute blackout, but others were captivated by the oddity of the play stoppage.

Once play finally resumed, the Ravens quickly lost all momentum. The Niners’ offense awoke and found a rhythm. Early in the fourth quarter, it was a one possession game as the Ravens led 31-23. With just under 10 minutes left to play in the contest, Kae­pernick scampered his way to a 15 yard touchdown to pull within two points of the Ravens. On the two point conver­sion try, there was an incomplete pass, leaving the Ravens with only a 31-29 advantage.

Down 34-29 with a couple minutes left in their season, the Niners had one last chance to win the game. However, Ray Lewis and the Ravens stepped up on a goal-to-go stand to wrap up the Super Bowl win. Lewis, the 17-year veteran who has spent his whole career with the Ra­vens, has already declared that this was his final season, so he will leave the game of football as a champion.

John Harbaugh (50 years old) defeated Jim Harbaugh (49) in what was coined the “Harbowl.” The two are brothers, and fought like brothers do. Neither gave up. But in the end, the older brother always finds a way to win, right?