by MATT GORDON Editor-in-chief
After a thrilling finish against the San Francisco 49ers in New Orleans on Sunday, February 3, the Baltimore Ravens won their first Super Bowl since 2000.
The game looked like a blowout at first, as the Ravens jumped out to a 21-6 lead by half time. Their dominant defense held back the 49ers’ premium pistol offense, which had been the 49ers’ key to making it to the Super Bowl. Also, the niners hurt themselves on the offensive end with two tunovers, a fumble by running back LaMichael James and an interception by quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
During halftime, superstar performer Beyonce rocked the stage with her explosive dance moves and superb singing. Twitter exploded as many people raved about her performance during and after halftime.
There were more fireworks at the start of the third quarter as Ravens kick returner Jacoby Jones ran back a kickoff for a 108 yard touchdown. It was the longest kick off return in postseason history. The Ravens now held a 22 point lead.
However, at the start of the third quarter, half of the lights in the Superdome went out and the game was forced to a screaming halt. Many blame the halftime show for the outage, but NFL Commisioner Roger Goodell said, “There’s no indication at all that this was caused by the halftime show. Absolutely not. I know that’s been out there that this halftime show had something to do with it. That is not the case.”
Even if the outage was not caused by the explosive halftime show, it still stole all the momentum from the Ravens. The 49ers ran off 17 straight points and pulled the game within five points at the end of the third quarter.
Junior Anthony Aversano said, “I feel the Ravens lost a little momentum. You could definitely tell after the black out that they didn’t show up to play. The coach of the Ravens was yelling at the stadium managers.”
Many felt like the 49ers would come back and win it all, but the Ravens’ defense held them back and only allowed one touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Ravens’ offense was even more superb in the quarter, running down the clock and holding the ball to not allow the 49ers enough time to score. The unsung star of the game was Raven’s rookie kicker Justin Tucker, who made two clutch field goals in the final quarter.
The last minute of the game was the most exciting part, as the 49ers drove down the field with four minutes left. After getting the ball within 10 yards of their ultimate goal, the niners came up short as the Ravens defense held firm with lock-down coverage. On their final play, the 49ers floated a ball into the back corner of the end zone and it appeared as if the receiver was being held, which is a 15 yard penalty and an automatic first down. This would have given the 49ers another four downs at trying to get into into the end zone.
The Ravens held on to win the ultimate prize of the Lombardi Trophy and obtained ultimate glory.