Baltimore Ravens (10-6) vs. San Francisco 49ers (11-4-1)

Ravens – 16th

49ers – 11th

Ravens – 17th

49ers – 3rd

Two weeks is way too long to have to wait for the Super Bowl to start.  This year is a little more nerve racking for me.  I’m a 49ers fan.  If you don’t know that by now, well the secret is out.  What you probably don’t know is that this is the first time I’ve predicted my team to be in the Super Bowl since I started this website.  I have tried my best to be a realistic fan.  Granted those days of screaming at the TV are still in me, but I’d like to think I’ve done a good job of keeping that back.  With that said this years Super Bowl is going to be a dandy.  So many great players that will be putting their talents on display.  It’s going to be a fantastic day.

If you haven’t hear yet, both head coaches are brothers.  The only thing that I have in common with both Harbaughs’ is that I have brothers, three to be exact.  Going against one another we’re always competitive with each other.  That will be no different between John and Jim.  Both go about their business in almost the exact same way.  Their teams’ style reflects their head coaches’. Jim had to deal with a bit of a quarterback controversy in the middle of the season as he chose Colin Kaepernick over Alex Smith.  John had to make a change at offensive coordinator firing Cam Cameron and promoting Jim Caldwell to the same position. Both moves had risk, but both coaches were rewarded for their bold moves.  The one advantage that goes in John’s favor is that he has beaten Jim once before, last Thanksgiving in Baltimore. Both seem to have no problem talking about playing against one another, but when it gets to game time they both know what will be at stake.  Never again will the majority of the headlines for a Super Bowl be about the head coaches than the one this year.

As I mentioned before, there are a lot of great players playing in this game.  Everyone is focusing on Ravens LB Ray Lewis going for another Super Bowl title.  That is just one story.  Another is seeing 49ers WR Randy Moss try to win his first Super Bowl title. He had one previous opportunity with the Patriots in 2007.  Other great players like Ravens S Ed Reed, LB Terrell Suggs and 49ers LB Patrick Willis, DT Justin Smith and RB Frank Gore will be going after their first Super Bowl titles as well.  All of those players mentioned are going to be talked about all day Sunday.  The Ravens and 49ers have three players each that haven’t been talked about as much this week.  For the Ravens it’s QB Joe Flacco, WR Anquan Boldin and S Bernard Pollard.  For the 49ers it’s LB Navorro Bowman, LB Aldon Smith and S Donte Whitner.  Baltimore will need to tandem of Joe Flacco and Anquan Boldin to be at their best.  Bernard Pollard will need to do his best to help cover the middle of the field and stop the run.  Bowman is among the best linebackers in the game right now.  He will be tasked with covering the Ravens TE Dennis Pitta and RB Ray Rice.  Smith and Whitner are excellent attacking defenders.  Smith is among the best pass rushers and Whitner is a fearless hard hitting safety.  The 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick will be a major part of their gameplan as well.

It’s simple for both teams.  Stop the run.  The Ravens will need to get RB Ray Rice and RB Bernard Pierce involved early and they need to be productive.  They have been quiet for most of these playoffs, but they need to show their capable of performing on this stage.  The 49ers will need to get RB Frank Gore going as well. With the speedy complement of RB LaMichael James the 49ers have a perfect combination for their pistol offense.  Baltimore and San Francisco both take pride in stopping the other teams running game.  This will be a tough task for both, but whomever is able to run the ball more and control the clock will be victorious.

You all know who I want to win.  I have waited almost 20 years to see my team get back to the Super Bowl.  I take pride in knowing that this team has been through some rough patches and still remained confident to appear in two consecutive conference championship games.  The Baltimore Ravens will provide a great matchup.  They have been waiting for a long time as well to get back to the Super Bowl.  There have been a lot of good teams in their history, but I will argue that this team is perhaps the best in their franchise’s history.  Both teams play the old school, smash mouth type of football that I grew up loving.  This will be a great game regardless of the outcome.  49ers win 24-21.