Many thought that the New England Patriots would be heading to yet another Super Bowl. After yesterday’s performance against the Baltimore Ravens, they’re not. And while many thought that the 49ers would easily defeat Atlanta, they didn’t. The Falcons still fell, sending San Francisco onto the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks; but it wasn’t an easy win by any stretch. Now after all is said and done after yesterday’s games, it looks as though this year it will be a Harbaugh Bowl.
It was the 49ers and the Falcons that first took the field yesterday and by halftime, it looked as though the Falcons had it. Atlanta came out strong and was leading the scoreboard for most of the game. But with less than ten minutes remaining, Frank Gore put in a huge effort scoring a pair of touchdowns, and San Francisco was finally up. Colin Kaepernick also put in another solid showing. While he wasn’t given the chance for a touchdown, he did destroy the Falcons in the air, completing 16 of 21 for 233 yards, and throwing a 4-yard TD pass to Vernon Davis.
The win for the 49ers was a narrow one, with a final score of 28-24; but it was a big one for San Francisco. It will be the first time they’ve gone to the Super Bowl since 1995; and if they win, they will be the only franchise aside from Pittsburgh to win the Super Bowl six times. But first, they’ll have to get through the Ravens. And judging by the way Baltimore played against New England yesterday, that’s going to be tough to do.
Going into their conference championship game, everyone thought Baltimore was running on emotion and that they were going to run out of gas soon. But the Ravens would do anything to give Ray Lewis a Super Bowl finish in his last year. And they’d do just about anything to avenge last year’s loss against the Patriots in the very same game. Yesterday, they did both.
Baltimore was down 13-7 at halftime but came back in the third with a vengeance, outscoring the Patriots a whopping 21-0 in the second half to deliver a final score of 28-13. The Patriots meanwhile, just couldn’t get it together, giving up turnovers and ending plays in fumbles. Tom Brady even had two interceptions that contributed to the loss; just another indication that this is not the New England team we’re used to seeing.
The Super Bowl will be played in New Orleans on February 3, and it’s going to be an emotional one. While Ravens’ head coach, John Harbaugh, will be there, so too will his brother, Jim Harbaugh, who will be coaching the 49ers. It’s an outcome that many wanted to see, and is why this year’s Super Bowl gets the designation of being known as the Har-Bowl.