LIGHTS OUT!

Another NFL season is in the books and for the second time in NFL history, the Baltimore Ravens are Super Bowl champions. This game offered a little of everything: big offensive plays, huge defensive efforts, game breaking special teams, a big comeback and a game-deciding fourth down and goal play. As has been the case in recent years, the Super Bowl was super. 

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DICTATING THE TEMPO

The team scoring first in the Super Bowl has won the Super Bowl most of the time. When a team jumps up by 22 points or more, as the Ravens did, they’ve never lost. The Ravens hit the 49ers with deep passes, stingy red zone defense and forced turnovers in the first half. The 49ers were unable to convert either of their drives deep into Ravens territory and were stonewalled before halftime.

In the pass-friendly NFL, with an explosive and dynamic quarterback like Colin Kaepernick of the 49ers, a 21-6 halftime deficit is not necessarily the kiss of death. The 108 yard kickoff return for a touchdown by the Ravens’ Jacoby Jones to start the second half could have been. With the momentum completely shifted to Baltimore in the third quarter and the Niners on their way out of the game in spirit, though not in body, Colin Kapernick played lights out. But before he played lights out, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome went lights out…literally.

Beyonce' and her halftime performance were hot! The second half could have used some of her illumination. 1

LIGHTING UP THE STADIUM

A problem involving a breaker caused the electricity in the Superdome to fail, causing half of the lights in the stadium to shut off. The power outage caused a delay of roughly 30 minutes in the Super Bowl. To say the stoppage in play could have decided the outcome of the game would be hyperbole. To say that it had no impact would be naïve.

The Ravens had the 49ers on football-life-support. Down 22 points in the second half and having never scored a touchdown in the game, I am not unconvinced that a sense of panic set in among some of the 49ers. The momentum was completely on the side of the Ravens. The half-hour stoppage in play gave the 49ers an unexpected opportunity to settle down, shake off the panic, go back to the drawing board, and restart their second half game plan. It may have helped the Niners; it did not help the Ravens.

The 49ers got into the end zone on their next full possession following the blackout on a 31 yard bomb from Kaepernick to Michael Crabtree. Then, capitalizing on a big punt return by Ted Ginn, Jr., the 49ers quickly got back into the end zone on a run by Frank Gore. Score: 28-20. Ballgame: up for grabs.

The Superdome had some Ravens fans and some 49ers fans, but the power outage in the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII give a new maning to "a house divided". 3

FURIOUS FOURTH QUARTER

What transpired in the fourth quarter was a back-and-forth chess match that demonstrated why both of these teams were in Super Bowl XLVII in the first place. The Ravens could have melted under the warm glow of the red hot 49ers, as the Ravens were forced back on their heels almost immediately following Gore’s touchdown as Ray Rice lost a fumble just two plays into their ensuing possession. The Ravens stopped the Niners cold, only surrendering a field goal and holding on to a five point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Ravens answered the 49ers field goal. The 49ers rebutted with a swift 5 play, 76 yard touchdown drive capped with a 15 yard scoring run by Kaepernick. A failed two point conversion following the Kaepernick touchdown left the Ravens with a two point lead. After another clutch Justin Tucker field goal by Baltimore, Super Bowl XLVII was set for as exciting a final four minutes as any fan could ask for.

CHESS MATCH

Buoyed by a 33 yard gallop by 49ers running back Frank Gore, the 49ers were seven yards away from pulling off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. With two 49ers timeouts remaining, it will remain a mystery to me why a star running back like Gore never touched the ball again. The Niners attempted three rushed passes into the end zone for Michael Crabtree, the last of which was on fourth and goal with 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh lobbying for a defensive penalty that would never be called. The Ravens managed the clock so that the 49ers would not run another offensive play and the Ravens became champions.   

  Jim Harbaugh wanted a flag on the incomplete fourth and goal pass. Wish in one hand; crap in the other and see which one fills up first, Jim. 4

FINAL STORYLINES

Bro Bowl I – Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh versus younger brother Jim Harbaugh, Head Coach of the 49ers, went to big brother. Future Hall of Fame Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis joined a very small fraternity of superstar American athletes like John Elway and Michael Jordan who retired after winning a championship. Joe Flacco’s stock rose closer to the top among NFL quarterbacks with his MVP performance. Future Hall of Famer Ed Reed, who will be a free agent in the coming offseason, punctuated his tenure in Baltimore with a championship.

The 49ers came up short but with their roster and their youth, I expect this team to be a perpetual contender for years to come. I expect Kapernick to become exponentially better in the coming years. I expect the 49ers, who have more than ten picks in the 2013 NFL Draft, to acquire even better player personnel next year. This team is going to be a force in the NFC for quite some time.

Brothers Jim and John Harbaugh, opposing coaches in Super Bowl XLVII, embrace at the end. 5

NEXT YEAR

Football fans have four seasons: preseason, regular season, postseason, and next season (or the offseason). Next year is here. More than any other American team sport, football is the closest to a true year round sport. There will be free agent acquisitions, the scouting combine, and the draft to occupy football fans until late April. This will lead into volunteer organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamps followed by training camp. And the cycle begins anew.

Until “next year”, the last live bullets we will have to remember were in yesterday’s dramatic Super Bowl. That final image is of a championship being won. Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens.

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1) Image from www.ibtimes.com
2) Image from www.upi.com
3) Image from www.foxnews.com
4) Image from www.denverpost.com
5) Image from the Associated Press via www.huffingtonpost.com

The Kicker is the Most Important Person on the Field

Every NFL team has at least one. Some invest an additional roster spot and have two. Many, throughout the history of the game, were foreign born. Some speak little or no English, or speak with a thick accent. It may possibly be the least glamorous position on a football team, with many that play the position often referred to as "not 'real' football players".

The position, of course, is placekicker. In a league with absolutely no job security, the placekicker has the absolute least. Other players' jobs may be in jeopardy after a pattern of deteriorating performance over several weeks, at the worst, after a really bad game. A placekicker can go from hero to goat, and from employed to unemployed, in a few seconds on one play.

This past Sunday, Garrett Hartley of the New Orleans Saints may have experienced the bottom of a placekicker's roller coaster ride. Hartley, as many recall, was a hero in the Saints 2009 season playoff run, en route to a Super Bowl XLIV Championship. Hartley was 5 for 5 in the playoffs, including the game winning field goal in overtime that sent the Saints to their first super Bowl ever. Hartley would go on, two weeks later to set a Super Bowl record for most field goals over 40 yards made in the game. 1

Hero

Oh what a difference a season makes. Three weeks into the 2010 season, Hartley has missed three kicks, two of which were under 35 yards, a chip shot in the NFL by any reasonable measure, in my opinion. The latest underachievement being a badly hooked 29 yard field goal attempt in overtime against the division rival Atlanta Falcons, which would have given the Saints sole possession of first place in the NFC South. 2

Goat

Hartley's job is now in jeopardy. According to multiple media reports, the Saints brought in several kickers to work out this week, including long time Saints kicker and 22 year NFL veteran (46 year old) John Carney. Carney signed with the team on Tuesday. Whether or not the Saints will continue to keep Hartley on the roster, in addition to a new kicker (utilized, perhaps, for shorter field goals and point after touchdown attempts), in the long term is unknown. But one thing is clear, to me. He may be unknown. He may not be a "real" football player. He may get the least glamor and glory of any player on an NFL roster. But for the few plays he is actually in the game, be it 2 plays, 5 plays or 10 plays, the kicker is the most important person on the field.

How is a scrawny, undersized, barely any facemask having, hardly ever coming into contact with an opponent KICKER ever the most important ANYTHING? Because when the kicker is on the field, he steers the outcome of the game. Such was the case yesterday in New Orleans. I believe it is safe to say that most observers of that game, regardless of rooting interest, would agree that the Falcons outplayed the Saints in regulation. Yet, in spite of the Falcons victory-worthy effort on the road and the Saints worst performance of the 2010 season, Hartley and Hartley alone (assuming a properly executed snap and placement) could undo all of Atlanta's good work and redeem his team of its many faults, during the game, with one swing of his leg.

Of course Hartley missed. The Falcons regrouped. They marched down the field on a time consuming drive, and veteran kicker Matt Bryant drilled a not-so-automatic 45 yard field goal to give his team the huge victory. 3

John Carney is: The Cleanup Man

This is simply one example, among many, on one team of the invaluable services a consistent placekicker can offer a football team. The Saints were also the longtime team of Morten Andersen, the all time leading scorer in NFL history. Andersen made countless kicks to give the Saints the lead, often in the final two minutes of a game. One or two game winning kicks in a season can potentially make the difference between making or missing the playoffs, winning or losing a division, or securing the coveted home field advantage in the playoffs. 4

Morten "Mr. Automatic" Andersen, 2009 saints Hall of Fame inductee 

The Saints have to observe and evaluate its most frequent scoring position very carefully in the coming weeks. The team won the Super Bowl, in part, due to clutch placekicking in the 2009 playoffs. A truly dominant team should not be in a position to have a game rely on making or missing a kick.

In the NFL however, there is little opportunity for dominance among the best of the best players alive. Professional football is a game decided by inches, not feet. When the margin is extremely close, as it often is (especially in playoff games involving two of the league's better teams) and the lead hinges on a field goal attempt, there is no more single important player on the field than the man who will succeed or fail to put the points on the board.

1) Image from http://halfmanhalfdog.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/garrett-hartley.jpg
2) Image from atlantafalcons.com 
3) Image from nola.com 
4) Image from nola.com