The "HarBowl." The "SuperBaugh." Whatever you call it, the clash
between the Harbaugh brothers - Jim and his San Francisco 49ers against
John and his Baltimore Ravens - makes for an interesting Super Bowl
XLVII. The following is a Madden simulation of the big game.
First quarter
The
49ers received the ball first, but wouldn't hold onto it long. Tight
end Vernon Davis fumbled the ball, giving the Ravens excellent field
position. Justin Tucker kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the Ravens
the early 3-0 lead.
After another Tucker field goal made it 6-0,
the 49ers offense was finally moving down the field when they turned it
over again, this time by a fumble from running back Frank Gore.
Second quarter
The
Ravens again took advantage of a turnover, moving the ball down the
field effortlessly. After breaking a couple tackles, running back Ray
Rice found his way into the end zone on a 17-yard score, extending the
Ravens lead to 13-0.
The 49ers had enough of that. On the next
drive, the offense finally got things going. Quarterback Colin
Kaepernick found Randy Moss and Michael Crabtree for some big
receptions, and Gore hurled himself into the end zone on a 1-yard
touchdown run to get the 49ers on the board, 13-7. Kaepernick was
stellar again with minutes remaining in the half, quickly moving the
offense down the field on more big pass plays. He fired a bullet to Moss
in the end zone from 17 yards out for the touchdown, and the 49ers
entered halftime with the 14-13 lead.
Third quarter
Not
much happened early in this quarter with both teams punting the ball.
That changed quickly after a big hit on Ray Rice, causing a fumble. Not
only did 49ers' Aldon Smith recover it, he took it back for the
touchdown to give his team a 21-13 lead.
Ray Rice would redeem
himself later in the quarter on a short touchdown run from the goal line
to make it 21-19. John Harbaugh decided to go for two points to tie the
game, but quarterback Joe Flacco's pass was knocked away.
Fourth quarter
With
a small lead the 49ers looked to take as much time off the clock as
possible, and at the same time put the game out of reach. However,
Kaepernick threw an easy interception to Ravens' Dannell Ellerbe, giving
his offense great field position. Tucker kicked another field goal to
give the lead back to the Ravens, 22-21.
The 49ers quickly punted
the ball after a 3-and-out, and the Ravens punished them for it. Flacco
found tight end Dennis Pitta downfield on a 3rd-and-long to extend the
drive, and Anquan Boldin hauled in a 4-yard pass for a touchdown to
extend the Ravens' lead to 29-21 with a few minutes remaining.
The
49ers needed to answer quickly - and they did. Moss was able to break
free along the sideline and Kaepernick found him for a monstrous 71-yard
touchdown pass to cut the lead back to two points. But just like
earlier with the Ravens, the 49ers' two-point conversion failed.
Instead
of attempting an onside kick, Jim Harbaugh took his chances the defense
would get the job done and kicked it off instead. It wasn't looking
good until the most nightmarish scenario happened to Ravens fans. Rice
fumbled the ball away for a second time with under two minutes to go,
giving the 49ers new life.
It all came down to kicker David Akers,
facing a 46-yard attempt for the championship. He nailed it, and the
49ers defeated the Ravens 30-29 to win Super Bowl XLVII.
For the
49ers, Kaepernick threw 16/23 for 259 yards and two touchdowns, Gore
rushed for 48 yards on 22 carries and one touchdown, and Moss caught six
passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
For the Ravens, Flacco
threw 22/26 for 245 yards and one touchdown, Rice rushed for 62 yards on
37 carries and two touchdowns, and Boldin caught five passes for 35
yards and one touchdown. In his final game, Ray Lewis was credited for
eight tackles.