Pick Standings:
Andrew – 1518 Points (170-96-1)
Greg – 1507 Points (167-99-1)
Picks nearly followed the same pattern as college football, except for the reverse people. In college pick em', the lead went back and forth early before Greg established a cushioned lead. And although I outperformed him in the Bowl Games, he held on. In these NFL standings, I established a cushioned lead and hung on in the playoffs despite Greg's charge. Now we're even.
As for the Harbaugh bowl last night, that was quite a game! There were four parts of the game to analyze:
1. The first 31:30 of the game.
2. The last 28:30 of the game.
3. Halftime Show
4. Commercials
As for the first portion of the game, the Ravens dominated. It's in this portion that Flacco won his MVP by establishing the lead and stretching it. I loved how he was able to even keep plays alive with his legs before unleashing it down the field. And outside of their breakdown on the Jacoby Jones TD, he simply outplayed the 49ers defense time and time again.
As for the fake FG, I didn't like the call. Now it worked out for them, but there was too much distance to be gained. If it was fourth and short then okay, but it was lengthy. Against the 49ers, I would want points. The special teams did make up for it with a 109 yard TD to open the second half. Wow!
But the Baltimore defense was phenomenal early. They were all over the place and stuck to the game plan. And as they were all playoffs, they were pumped up and catalyzed by Ray Lewis. Then the "blackout" happened.
I do believe that the lights going out killed momentum and took the edge off. Afterwards the Ravens seemed flat, uninspired, and played like they already had the game won. They were given too much time to think things over during that unexpected break. The 49ers were finally able to calm down and switch gears. The decision was made to open it up and they did. That quick stretch in the third quarter when they scored back to back TD's in a matter of minutes was great.
In the second half Baltimore's defense let up. But I will give them props for their stand inside the ten on San Francisco's last drive. It was great defense. As to the possible penalty on Smith against Crabtree: Not controversial at all in my opinion. Their was contact early for sure, but they are allowed to do that for about 5 yards. Then after that Crabtree was the one using his hands so you can't really call a penalty either way. The ball was overthrown too. I thought it was just good tough defense as we saw all game. And if you weren't calling it earlier (Example: Torrey Smith got held on a deep ball that would have been a TD catch in the endzone), then they were right in letting them play it out at the end.
I also loved their decision to waste time on the punt and take a safety. Great call! Overall, Baltimore deserved to win this game, even though they let it become close. They outplayed San Francisco and Harbaugh out-coached Harbaugh... love it!
As for the halftime show, I was entertained. I loved the special effects and the fact she brought back Destiny's Child. As for commercials, there were some great ones. "Cracking Nuts" was hilarious, Doritos did a nice job too (Princess Daddy was classic), and my wife cried during the Budweiser horse commercial. Comment away on your favorites!
As I look ahead to next year, I see both of these teams in the mix once again. It will be interesting to see the Ravens though without Ray Lewis, and how much better can Kaepernick get in his second year...
As for an early prediction, I like the Broncos taking out the Falcons. I picked that this year and both teams choked in the playoffs. So I'll pick that now, and will surely change it before the season starts. Later!
By: Andrew
Wow, some of this stuff I could not more vehemently disagree with. This was quite a game and included everything you'd want in a Super Bowl. Both quarterbacks played pretty well overall, with Kaepernick starting off pretty shaky but really only throwing two bad balls all night (one was intercepted). Both defenses didn't play great, but stepped up when they were needed. Jacoby Jones thought he had the record for a kickoff return in a Super Bowl (originally called 109 yards but changed to 108 yards to only tie the record). The drama of the brothers playing against each other turned out to be even more compelling than I thought it would be as I put myself and my brother (who are separated by about the same amount of years) in their shoes after the game. We had the drama of a late game FG by Justin Tucker that sealed the win, a late game drive by the 49ers(that stalled due to questionable play calling). That drive also included a great plays by the Ravens defense when their backs were against the wall, though it was aided by a missed call(justifiably so) and the poor play calling by the 49ers offensive coaches. Then came the incredibly savvy call by the Ravens to take a safety by running their punter around the back of the end zone to the tune of :08 off of the clock. How do you look your brother in the eye after that? My brother, as he so eloquently put it "Lol haha I'd spear you Rock Bottom to the turf". That play, and how they handled it post-game,said as much to me about the relationship between the brothers as anything they said during the week.
ReplyDeleteAs for the game itself:
Yes, the Ravens played really well early. Yes, Joe Flacco played exceptionally for the first 40 minutes of the game (and the one play in the second third of the game that he needed to), but I don't think the power outage had as profound an impact on the game as Andrew does. The 49ers have shown, repeatedly, an ability to come back from large deficits. This game would have been close at the end even had there not been a power outage.
The officials called a good game I thought. There were very few penalties called, even though many were committed. They allowed the receivers and DBs to jockey for position all night and were consistent about when they called it and when they didn't (with one exception). The penalty on Chris Culliver against Torrey Smith that was called pass interference was a key third down on the Ravens' last scoring drive and involved the exact same contact as Jimmy Smith had on Michael Crabtree at the end of the game. Yes, you are allowed to hand jockey and re-route within the first 5 yards Andrew, but this was beyond 5 yards AND Smith's left hand was clearly holding onto Crabtree's jersey under his right shoulder while the ball was in the air. It wasn't a perfect throw by Kaepernick, but the ball only landed about 3 yards out of bounds, and only missed Crabtree's hands by about a foot and a half, even after being held. If Crabtree is not interfered with on that play I believe he, at the very least, easily has an opportunity to make the catch with his feet well in bounds. With all that being said, had the referees made the call, it would have been just as controversial as the non call was. As Teddy Bruschi and Trent Dilfer said it was probably a good no-call because had they made the call, it would have been handing the Super Bowl victory to the 49ers. All in all, a good no call, but as always Andrew did not look at is as in depth as I did and dismissed it altogether. As for the Torrey Smith play you talked about earlier, Culliver re-routed him by extending his arms, which is a legal play and was not holding.
Great game, and a fitting ending to an exciting NFL season. As for next year's predictions...well we will just have to see about that. It is wayyy too early for all of that.
The outage had an impact on momentum. San Francisco might have made a run, but the Ravens were clearly flat after that on both sides of the ball. That isn't even an opinion. Just watch the tape. It's a fact. The reasoning as to why is opinion, and I think it's cause they had time to think about themselves as Super Bowl Champs. But whatever the reason, it was a factor.
ReplyDeleteAs to the no call, I stick to what I saw. Smith jammed Crabtree early, then Crabtree fought back, he was slowed by this, but it's just good, tough defense. We saw it time and time again all game. There wasn't anything controversial about it in my opinion.
As to the Torrey Smith play, that was clearly pass interference or at least illegal contact. Again, go watch the film if you need to. But I didn't care too much about it honestly because that's physical defense and the refs did allow both teams to push and shove all night. And I liked that.
Lastly, one thing I didn't address was the brother aspect. It was an interesting dynamic. Jim should use this to learn from brother, in many ways... But that's another discussion.
Andrew
Well, Eric mangini agreed with me that it didn't have an impact on the game, so a former Super Bowl champion coach agreeing with me is pretty substantial so for you to say its not an opinion and is a fact is, in fact, ignorant.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Crabtree interference call, it was interference. I encourage you, as you said to me, go watch the tape. Both plays were tough physical defense, but one was holding by grabbing the receiver and one was running in the defenders way and impeding his progress(a legal maneuver) however it was best for the game that they did not call it, even though it was an obvious pass interference.
Seeing as Eric Mangini has had such a fantastic career as a head coach, his opinion must be valid... Wait a second...
ReplyDeleteI'll stick to the opinion I trust most: mine. And if that isn't good enough, I'll stick with the opinion of the Raven's defense and their coaches who are on top of the world. As they have said, it wasn't interference, it was physical defense. Exactly!