John Berger
Senior Editor
After a long five month season, only two teams remain in the NFL. The Ravens, after an inspiring three game run through the AFC side of the bracket, will take on the 49ers, a team that overcame a seventeen point deficit in the conference championship game to reach the Super Bowl. Both teams are very similar, with very good front 7’s and versatile offenses. I think that the 49ers are the more talented team, but the Ravens have played so well since the playoffs began, and they’re pretty talented themselves. Something interesting to note in this game is that the coaches, Jim Harbaugh and John Harbaugh, are brothers. That has undoubtedly led to a number of articles in the media written about their childhood, and a number of articles written about their parents. It certainly leads to an interesting scenario, but it’s more of a side note in this game. Both Harbaugh’s are very good coaches, and it will be interesting to see how they go against each other tactically.
Without much further ado, let me get to my prediction:
Baltimore VS San Francisco-
They say that styles make fights, and in this case, the styles are very interesting. I’m most interested in seeing how the Ravens defense matches up with the 49ers offense. Late in the season, 49ers Coach Jim Harbaugh decided to start Colin Kaepernick at quarterback, a controversial decision that has definitely paid off. The 9ers offense has been lethal with Kaepernick at the helm, his combination of speed and strength adds another dimension to San Francisco’s offense, and makes them very hard to defend because they are so versatile. I firmly believe that the key in this game will be how the Ravens defensive line plays agains the 49ers offensive line. Simply put, your defensive line must put pressure on Kaepernick in order to have success. If you blitz a lot, like the Packers did, your defense is often out of position and Kaepernick becomes almost impossible to contain once he leaves the pocket. The Falcons brought their outside linebackers around the edge to attack Kaepernick, but that gave running back Frank Gore more room to run with the read option. It’s very important that the Ravens are able to get penetration and pressure Kaepernick using only their defensive line. That will be a tough task considering the size of the 9ers offensive line.
As far as the other side of the ball, moving the ball on the 49ers is very tough, but Baltimore has the playmakers to do it. Ray Rice is a really good running back, and Anquan Boldin showed what he can do against man-coverage against the Patriots. Joe Flacco doesn’t always make it look good as a quarterback, but he gets the job done in the playoffs. He has more wins personally than many teams have in their entire history, and the most road playoff wins of any quarterback in NFL history. As for my prediction, I picked the 49ers to win it all at the beginning of the season, but I’m going to jump off the bandwagon. I just have a gut feeling that the Ravens are going to control the pace of the game, and win the battle at the line of scrimmage. As always, big plays and turnovers will be key.
Final Score: Ravens: 24- 49ers: 21
