Super Bowl 47 (2013)

"Life Is Too Short To Wait..." -Anonymous-

Good afternoon everyone.  If you were waiting on the edge of your seat for my Super Bowl prediction (highly unlikely), I do apologize for the afternoon post today.  My post-work nap lasted for about SIX hours, and then I had a few errands to run.  Understandably, today is a very sad day for me as I've been living off of last year's Super Bowl prediction for a whole year now.  I predicted that the underdog New York Giants (who I picked to win every playoff game they were in last season) would beat the New England Patriots 24-21 in Super Bowl 46.  The final score was Giants 21  Patriots 17...  Now I have to venture out on that limb and make another pick...

Of course I have to give you a little backstory before I make my selection, but it won't be as long as the Super Bowl pregame show, so there's that...  ;)  I went 2-1-1 on my picks in the Conference Championship Round the weekend before last, bringing my playoff record to 12-7-1 during this postseason.  I predicted that the underdog Ravens would defeat the Patriots 23-17, and the final score was Ravens 28-13 (I appreciate your applause)...  :)  This means that the game stayed under 51 1/2 points and that Baltimore covered (+8 1/2).  In the NFC title game, I picked the Falcons to beat the 49ers 24-20.  I was exactly right about Atlanta's 24 points, but San Francisco tacked on an extra 8 in their 28-24 victory, causing me to 'push' (tie) on Falcons (+4) and to miss on the under 49 1/2 as the final total was 52.  On the day of those games, I invited my facebook friends to share their predictions.  My friend Denney, a 49ers fan, commented that Frisco would win 35-24.  At that point I responded that 24 points for the Falcons was a "lock" - go figure...  :)  Denney then replied (and this quote is verbatim), "Ha, yeah, and then we can take the average of our San Fran score predictions..."  Get out your pen and paper and find the difference between 20 and 35...  I'm expecting Denney to start his sports blog any day now...  :)

From a personal standpoint, I really don't have a rooting interest in this game, other than the fact that after I make my prediction, I don't want these teams to make me look silly...  If the Ravens win, I will be happy for Anquan Boldin, my favorite receiver in the league that isn't a Pittsburgh Steeler.  Do you remember when Boldin was playing for the Cardinals and got NAILED in the endzone by the New York Jets?!  He took a wicked shot to the mouth, which was WIRED SHUT when he was PLAYING AGAIN THE NEXT WEEK!  Boldin is a very talented and tough receiver that I have a lot of respect for, and he has been outstanding in this postseason.  Should the 49ers win, I will be happy for Colin Kaepernick.  This has nothing to do with his outstanding play this season.  If you have followed my blog, you know that I am not a big Boise State football fan.  They play cupcake schedules and get rewarded with inflated rankings.  A few years back, Boise was going to be in the national championship game (or in another bowl game they deserved to part of), but they didn't survive a trip to Reno, Nevada...  You get one guess as to who Kaepernick played his college ball for...  Kaepernick's Wolfpack over the 3rd-ranked Broncos 34-31 in overtime...  :)  I am TOTALLY CONVINCED that this saved us from having an Alabama/Notre Dame type of debacle in a big bowl game, very possibly the title game.

Okay, enough stalling, here we go...

Super Bowl 47 - Sunday, February 3rd - 5:30 p.m. CST - New Orleans, Louisiana

Baltimore Ravens (10-6) vs. San Francisco 49ers (11-5)

49ers (-4), Over/Under (47.5)

This postseason:

Ravens def. Colts 24-9

Ravens def. Broncos 38-35

49ers def. Packers    45-31

Ravens def. Patriots  28-13

49ers def. Falcons    28-24

The last time that these two teams met was on Thanksgiving a year ago.  The Ravens beat the 49ers 16-6 on that night.  I have heard rumblings about the coaches for these two squads being brothers or something - you may want to check into that...  :)  The score in their last meeting explains why the over/under has dropped two points since I first saw it.  On the night of the conference championship games a few weekends back, ESPN had the over/under at 49.5, with the 49ers favored by 4.5 points at that time.  Ray Lewis returning to the lineup has been HUGE for the Ravens.  The Ravens defense held the Patriots to 13 points in the AFC title tilt.  The 49ers defense has been a mystery to me, much better in my memory than in the postseason, but their offense has more than made up for it.  Ray Rice (who I have been QUICK to criticize, ESPECIALLY after he DUCKED a James Harrison pass rush last season) has looked very sharp in the playoffs, in addition to Boldin.  It's my opinion that Boldin has helped to make Flacco look good, but Flacco hasn't played horrible either...  Kaepernick has seemingly carried the 49ers offense on his back, rushing for 7,000,000 yards in the postseason (I haven't checked that stat for accurary).  I expect this to be a very competitive game, but I have to go with the old axiom that "defense wins championships" - I know that Denney will appreciate this, since he likes when I pick against his team...  ;)  My prediction for Super Bowl 47 is:

Baltimore 27  San Francisco 17   -----   Ravens (+4), Under (47.5)

I hope that you have a fun-filled and SAFE Super Bowl Weekend, and I will see you again on Monday!