The Niners got the opening kick and did nothing with it, punting after a 3-and-out aided by an illegal formation penalty. The Ravens had great field position and marched into the red zone but Joe Flacco threw an incomplete pass on 3rd and 9. Another penalty on the Niners – this time for being offsides – gave them another chance on third and 4. Flacco hit Anquan Boldin over the middle in the end zone on the following play.

Ravens 7, Niners 0

San Francisco answered the score with one of their own. They took the kickoff and drove inside the Ravens’ 20, but Colin Kaepernick missed an open Michael Crabtree a yard deep in the endzone on 2nd down and took a sack on a furious pass rush on third down so they settled for a 39-yard field goal by embattled kicker David Akers.

Ravens 7, Niners 3.

The Ravens got the kickoff and converted a 3rd and 9 against a massive blitz by rolling and running right then throwing a dart down the sideline to WR Anquan Boldin for a first down, but couldn’t stop the next blitz on third down. Flacco was sacked out of FG range, forcing them to punt on a short field.

Second Quarter:

The Niners began their drive on their own 20 and moved the ball well as Kaepernick completed a couple of passes to TE Vernon Davis and Gore gashed them up the middle. Rookie LaMichael James had one of the most exciting runs for no gain that I’ve seen in some time as he ran wide, gave up 7 yards, forced a missed tackle, and gained the 7 back to the line of scrimmage before he fumbled the ball over to the Ravens at the Ravens’ 25 yard line.

The Ravens drove the distance for their second touchdown of the game, culminating on a 2-yard play-action pass to TE Dennis Pitta. Flacco made the Niners pay for their miscue.

Ravens 14, Niners 3.

On the Niners’ responding drive, Colin Kaepernick made San Francisco 49′ers Super Bowl history: He threw an interception. It’s the franchise’s first thrown intercepion and their sixth visit. Ed Reed corralled the ball, which was his 9th postseason interception, tying an NFL record.

It was beginning to look like the Ravens’ day, but a scrum between the two teams made it ugly. I despise “offsetting” penalties – you may as well not even bother to throw the flag – but the officials had to make some sort of statement to keep the teams under control, and I get that.

Feb 3, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) throws a long pass in the first quarter completion to Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin (81) in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Flacco was on-target with his passes up to this point, but the drive stalled when Anquan Boldin dropped a short pass over the middle. I suppose even he can hear footsteps when going up against 2 Pro-Bowl inside linebackers like Willis and Bowman. In any case, they lined up for a short FG try, but it was a fake FG-run left. The Ravens’ kicker nearly made the first down, but was slammed out of bounds a yard or so shy of the line to gain. Patrick Willis forced the issue outside while a pair of teammates made the play.

I had no idea speed at the kicker position was going to be an issue, but Super Bowls almost always have a few surprises.

San Francisco took over at their own 6 yard line but another 3-and-out forced them to punt.

It didn’t matter, as the Ravens hit upon yet another 2013 playoff big play…and one of the Super Bowl’s signature plays. Jacoby Jones put a double move on Donte Whitner and was wide open over the middle of the field. Flacco saw it and heaved it, but the pass was very, very short, causing Jones to fall down in order to catch it as Whitner zoomed on by.

He wasn’t touched, got up, and had to put some moves on before racing left and outrunning Whitner to the goal line for a 56-yard TD.

It’s going to be up there with the Tyree helmet catch and I think it’s the most spectacular and odd touchdown play in Super Bowl history. If you haven’t seen the play yet, don’t worry. You will.

Ravens 21, Niners 3 at Halftime

The Patriots were moving the ball better early than were the road warrior, Joe Flacco-led Ravens offense was. Brady led his squad on a 13 play opening drive, ending in a field goal. On their second drive of the game, the Patriots were helped by a helmet-to-helmet hit from Ray Lewis on TE Aaron Hernandez for a first down inside the 40 yard line but couldn’t score on a windy evening in Foxboro. At least the officials caught it – more on that later.

The Ravens were operating out of a hole on their early drives, starting their first three well inside their own 20. Even with the struggles of the Patriots’ defense, it’s a tall order for anyone to put together 80+ yard scoring drives in the playoffs and those drives all ended in punts in the first quarter.

When the second quarter began with the Pats up 3-0, to this writer, the biggest story so far was the fact that CB Aqib Talib, recently acquired by the Pats from the Tampa Bay Bucs, came up lame after one play late in the first quarter holding his right thigh in an apparent hamstring issue. He was assigned to Anquan Boldin up until then, but came out of the game.

As difficult as it may be to do in the playoffs, the Ravens answered with their own 13 play 90-yard TD drive that was punctuated by a 2-yard TD run by Ray Rice as he bounced outside on a dive that was clogged up by Patriot defenders. As if that weren’t bad enough, safety Patrick Chung was seen on the sidelines shaken up as the PAT was attempted.

The Ravens were up 7-3 but the Patriots rapidly restored their lead to 3 points at 10-7 on their next possession. Baltimore had to punt from their own goal line, giving the Patriots outstanding field position with 2:30 left in the half.

Jan 20, 2013; Foxboro, MA, USA; Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta (middle) is hit by New England Patriots strong safety Steve Gregory (28) and cornerback Kyle Arrington (right) during the second quarter of the AFC championship game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

They drove and on 3rd and 4, Brady was crushed to the turf by a vicious hit from the official’s rear end. Yes, there’s a reason Tom Brady is NOT a scrambler. At least he didn’t pull a Mark Sanchez and fumble in the process. He made the Ravens pay on third down, setting up a first and goal on a completion to Aaron Hernandez. After another Brady scramble, gaining 4 yards and taking 20 seconds off the clock, Gostkowski hit another field goal to end the half with the score New England 13, Baltimore 7….and the Patriots ran 45 offensive plays in the first half.

In the second half, Baltimore took a 14-13 lead on a 5-yard TD pass from Flacco to Dennis Pitta. What caught my notice, however, was the previous play…another 5 yard pass to Pitta. I noticed on the hard hit by Jerod Mayo that the side of Mayo’s helmet smacked Pitta’s face mask, but there was no roughing call made. Even the announcer, former Giants’ QB Phil Simms, claimed it was a “good hit, with his shoulder lower than Pitta’s neck.”

Excuse me, but every other play I’ve seen in the past two seasons where a defender’s helmet collides with the offensive player’s helmet, it’s a personal foul. Granted in this case since they scored on the next play anyway, it made no real difference, but it makes me wonder about the officiating. It would turn out to not be the only call I saw in this game that was NOT made.

Neither the officials nor the Patriots’ defense could stop the Ravens on the ensuing drive. On the first play of the 4th quarter, Anquan Boldin elevated to snag a high pass in the end zone from Joe Flacco and they added the PAT after a 10 play 63 yard drive to make it 21-13, Ravens.

On the Pats’ next possession, Stevan Ridley took a hit – another helmet-to-helmet shot that went uncalled – and fumbled with the Ravens recovering it. Ridley was taken into the locker room under his own power after lying on the field briefly unable to get up and go to the sideline himself.

With the “emphasis” on player safety by Roger Goodell and the NFL, it’s disconcerting as a fan to sit here and watch the AFC Championship game and see two different blatant head-clashing hits going uncalled.

You know, put a helmet on me, and *I* could have caused Ridley to fumble on that play. The old OLD term for it was “Spearing” – using the helmet as a weapon. The first no-call was incidental…the side of the defender’s helmet hit Pitta’s face mask.

This one was the blatant use of the head as a weapon, directly causing a fumble, recovered by the defensive team. That’s just not right especially in this day and age.

And yes, the Ravens repeated the result once they officially got the ball back – TD pass to Anquan Boldin.

Ravens up, 28-13.

Ridley did not return, and the Patriots could not mount a comeback. Flacco had 3 TD passes with no turnovers. Brady out-gained Flacco but had one TD and two INTs with the second one coming on their last, desperation drive in the end zone.

Before today’s game, the New England Patriots were 67-0 at home when leading at halftime under Tom Brady.

Ouch.

Jan 13, 2013; Foxboro, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) leaves the field after the AFC divisional round playoff game against the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots won 41-28. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

The Texans almost returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. The Texans were unable to convert the great field position into 6 and ended up settling for a field goal. Against the high octane Patriots offense field goals are not going to do it. So Tom Brady takes just 6 plays to go 65 yards for the Patriots first score. The Pats then add a field goal and another touchdown in the 2nd quarter to take a 17-3 lead. Toward the end of the 2nd quarter the Texans decided to get back into the game.

Arian Foster scores on a one yard plunge, well at least it looked like he scored. Then at the end of the 2nd quarter Graham adds a long field goal to make it 17-13 Patriots at halftime. The 3rd quarter was all New England. This is where we were able to see the greatness that is Tom Brady. He is not the most talented quarterback but he is the best quarterback. Being a Panther fan, nothing pains me more that to admit that. No one is able to will his team to victory like Brady is. He is willing to stand in the pocket and take hit after hit just to deliver the ball on time and on target. So at the end of the 3rd Patriots up 31-13.

There was more of Brady and the Pat’s to start the 4th, scoring on a nice pass play. Then Schaub and company try to make it a game scoring twice in the 4th quarter. They got the score as close as 38-28 but the Patriots prove again to be too much for the Texans. The Pats end the scoring on a Gostkowski field goal. Final score 41-28 Patriots. The real difference in the game was the rushing attack of the Pats. Most people would have thought the Texans would have the upper hand when it comes to running the ball but the defense of New England did an excellent job of bottling up the Houston Backs. The defense shown by the Patriots will need to step up again next week versus the Ravens.

The AFC Championship will be a rematch of  the week  matchup between the Ravens and the Patriots which the Ravens won 31-30. This time Brady will be at home however. It should be a very good game and I am personally looking forward to watching. In that one I don’t have a team I’m rooting for per say but I will be curious to see the chess match between Ray Lewis and Tom Brady. It could be a game for the ages.

God Bless!

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