After Beyonce’ repeated the same lyrics 100 times, the second half was underway.

Third quarter:

The Ravens had won the toss, deferred, and received the kick to open the second half.

Eleven seconds later, Jacoby Jones had put 6 on the board with a Super Bowl record 109-yard kickoff return. The one area I had said in the piece I wrote earlier today where the Ravens had the edge was in special teams, especially Jacoby Jones. He had 2 kickoff returns for TDs during 2012 and 1 punt return TD.

Ravens 28, Niners 6.

Kaepernick started San Francisco’s opening drive from the 17 yard line as their kickoff return was stuffed well inside the 20. After a nice 20-something yard completion, this was the night the lights went out in Louisiana.

That’s what happened, anyway. More than half the banks of floodlights in the Superdome went dark for some unknown reason. We all simply saw the camera panning upward, showing dimmed lights. Steve Tasker got on and let us know Jim Nantz wasn’t on because “half of the power went out” in the stadium.

Yes, the power and lights in the majority of the Superdome was gone for the better part of an hour. CBS even put up a digital clock timer counting up how long the delay was. It appears this particular Super Bowl has more than its’ share of firsts and not all of them were the sort of firsts the NFL was looking for!

I suppose it’s no coincidence the problem was on the 49′ers side of the field with the game going the way it is.

Play finally resumed after about a 35 minute delay. For what it’s worth, Kaepernick completed a short pass on 3rd and 13 but not nearly far enough to move the chains and they had to punt.

After the touchback punt, the Ravens began their initial post-blackout drive but they had to punt as well.

I suppose this makes perfect sense, seeing as how the defenses were sooooo well-rested from halftime and the scrubs did all the running on the kickoff return TD, so everyone was fresh for when the lights did come back on.

Kaepernick wound up tossing a 39-yard TD pass to Michael Crabtree after the latter dropped a long pass down the right sideline earlier in the drive and burned a timeout on the drive.

Ravens 28, Niners 13.

The Ravens couldn’t get out of the shadow of their own endzone and punted. The punter hit a very poor kick and Ted Ginn, Jr. was able to field it on a hop, reverse his field, and got it down to the 20 yard line. Vernon Davis went over 100 receiving yards on the next play with a 14-yard catch to the 6. Gore took a handoff in a misdirection play to the end zone for 6 on the following play.

So far, the power outage has completely changed the momentum of the game in favor of the Niners.

Ravens 28, Niners 20.

The Ravens then fumbled the ball away on their own 25 yard line with the Niners recovering it.

The Harbaugh family had to be feeling edgy at these proceedings. Could things get any stranger?

Uhh….yes. They could, and they did.

San Francisco kicker David Akers pushed a 39-yard FG attempt to the left, missing the try and extending his year-long struggle, but the Ravens got flagged for running into the kicker. It wasn’t enough for a first down, but allowed Akers another try from 5 yards closer. He split the uprights on his 34-yard attempt.

Ravens 28, Niners 23.

Fourth quarter:

The Ravens finally got their offense moving – without the help of “Leon Sandcastle” – and got into the red zone for the first time since the Great Power Smite. They couldn’t get into he end zone and settled for a 19-yard field goal.

Ravens 31, Niners 23.

San Francisco went on the march again from their own 23 and got to the red zone on their next possession. At the 15 yard line, Colin Kaepernick decided he was going to run the thing in and went down the left sideline and easily into the end zone to pull his team within 2.

The 2-point conversion failed.

Ravens 31, Niners 29.

The Ravens then set out to eat up clock while driving for hopefully (for the Ravens) a touchdown or a field goal at minimum. They did eat up a good part of the clock on a 5 minute drive but it stalled out and they settled for a field goal.

Ravens 34, Niners 28.

Now it was the Niners’ turn for trying the same thing. A long TD drive with little time left would be perfect.

Frank Gore broke open a 33-yard run down to the 7 on about the 5th play of the drive, taking the clock to the 2 minute warning. 4th and goal from the 5 saw the Ravens bring the house. Kaepernick was forced to throw the ball immediately and despite what appeared to be defensive holding on CB Jimmy Smith, there was no flag thrown as the pass fell out of Crabtree’s reach, incomplete.

Ravens 34, Niners 31

It was yet another controversy on the most bizarre night of Super Bowl action in the history of the game. Toss in the “voluntary” safety after the Ravens ran out all but 14 seconds on the clock along with blatant holding by their offensive line that went uncalled (and unannounced), and we COULD have a bit of another scandal regarding the officiating. It was simply awful in the last part of this ball game.

The Ravens punted from their own 20 yard line with 4 seconds left.

Ted Ginn couldn’t run it back for a touchdown and the storybook season ended with a Super Bowl victory for Baltimore and Ray Lewis gets sent into retirement with another ring.

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 Ravens have so much more depth in certain regions of their game where the 49ers have none. And where the 49ers have talent the Ravens have talent to match. To break it down, the Ravens offense has so much more depth in every category. To start off, I give you readers the comparison between Ray Rice and Frank Gore. I see both players differently; to me Ray Rice is more of a DeAngelo Williams type where he has the ability to escape from tacklers very easily, while Frank Gore is more of a Jonathon Stewart type of runner who can just smash himself straight up the middle and if he sees an opening he can burst through the seem to an open field. However, Ray Rice also has the same ability to get a few yards just by churning his legs in a pile of Offensive Linemen.

Jan 12, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith (82) celebrates a second quarter touchdown against the Denver Broncos during the AFC divisional round playoff game at Sports Authority Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

As for the receivers, the Ravens also have the upper hand, just by having depth. The 49ers have more talented players, Davis, Crabtree, and Moss, but with the absence of Manningham, the 49ers attack has taken a small hit. Now the Ravens have Smith, Bolden, Jones, and Pitta as well as a slew of talented receivers who have the power to make crucial catches, like LeQuan Williams.

The defense to me is very equal on both sides, with two strong Linebacker cores on both sides. And where the Ravens give up some slack on the Defensive Line, they make up with extreme depth in the Secondary. So it’s basically give and take on the Defensive side of the ball.

As for the Quarterbacks, the only thing that Kaepernick has that Flacco doesn’t, is unpredictability. Kaepernick has the ability to completely run a game; the only thing holding him back is the age. The fact that he is young, and only has about half a season of starting in the NFL tells you that he just isn’t as complete of a player as Flacco. Flacco is a well-rounded player who has one of the strongest arms in the NFL. He is also one of the most consistent Quarterbacks in the NFL. For those two reasons, the Ravens will have a better game than the 49ers.