Did John Harbaugh Out-Coach Jim Harbaugh in Super Bowl XLVII?

The only thing the media focused on more that Ray Lewis or Colin Kaepernick during Super Bowl Week was the Brothers Harbaugh. John and Jim were set to have their second-ever match-up on the biggest stage in America. It created an incredibly complex rooting interest for their parents and other family members that rivals how fans treat games with their fantasy football players involved. It's a bit of a different level of interest there. John's Baltimore Ravens beat Jim's San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in New Orleans on Sunday. Before the game, there was talk about how either or both of the Harbros were among the league's best coaches. It certainly didn't seem that one brother had an advantage over the other in the game.

Both John and Jim had some decent moves and some boneheaded ones, but that's not necessarily any different than other coaches when put under that much pressure.

Jim's shining moment came when the lights weren't doing the same. The 49ers came out of the power outage looking as good as they had at any other point this post-season. San Francisco scored the next 17 points of the game all in the third quarter, and it couldn't have come at a more surprising time. Just before the longest-ever delay in a Super Bowl, Jacoby Jones returned the second half opening kickoff for a touchdown, and Joe Flacco was sacked on 2nd down. We don't know for sure what Harbaugh may have said to his players or if he even had a speech for them, but he played catch with Kaepernick during the break, and Colin was a different player once the lights came back on.

John's best move was when a special teams game of keep away. (It's especially ironic that his smartest decision came for the same unit he made a mistake with earlier in the game.) With the 49ers having just used their final timeout, the Ravens snapped the ball to their punter with just over ten seconds remaining in the game. Instead of having his punter Sam Koch kick from within his own end zone and give the Niners a decent chance to return it deep into Baltimore territory. Harbaugh instructed Koch to hold onto the ball for as long as possible, then run out of bounds. The safety gave San Francisco two more points, but it ensured that the 49ers would be forced to run the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown or have a much longer Hail Mary attempt for the game-winning score.

In a supplemental move of brilliance (whether it was intentional or not), the Ravens line did whatever needed to prevent any Niners from getting into the end zone. Committing a holding penalty would have the same result as a safety, and if the team got away with it, it would run more time off of the clock. Koch burned eight seconds, and the safety kick off was not returned to anywhere near the end zone, giving the Ravens their second Super Bowl Championship.

Jim's worst call was trying to give Michael Crabtree the game-winning touchdown reception three plays in a row, all from the Baltimore five yard line on San Francisco's final drive of the game. The Ravens already knew Crabtree was Kaepernick's favorite target. Because the field was short, there was less room for Crabtree to get some separation. Three incomplete passes later, the Niners had lost the game, without Kaepernick doing as much as scrambling or trying a different receiver.

The gutsiest (but still worst) call by John Harbaugh came in the first-ever fake field goal in Super Bowl history. In the second quarter, Baltimore had a 2nd & 9 from the San Francisco 14 yard line. Justin Tucker took a direct snap and was pushed out of bounds just one yard shy of the first down marker. The Ravens turned the ball over, but the Niners went three and out. On the next drive, Baltimore scored another touchdown. Taking risks tends to be a way for coaches to either make or break their careers. This time it did neither for John Harbaugh, but the three points Baltimore almost definitely would have had would have changed the complexion of the game.

Both John's Ravens and Jim's Niners should be in a good position to contend for the next few years between the personnel and coaching each has at his disposal. As for their respective places among other NFL head coaches, they're right up there.