For the first time in Super Bowl history, a non-game-related event at a football stadium took longer than the halftime show. The power outage at the Super Dome is one of the two biggest happenings in Super Bowl XLVII, with the other being an unexpected last-second drive falling just short.
As many media members adeptly pointed out between Sunday night and today, The San Francisco 49ers offense finally woke up after the lights went out. There's no doubt that a Niners victory would have led to plenty of complaining by Ravens fans, because 30-plus minutes of momentum were essentially wiped out by a second long break. Before a large portion of the stadium lost power, the Ravens were on their way to one of the easiest Super Bowl victories ever, or so many people though. A record-setting Jacoby Jones kick return for a touchdown at the beginning of the third quarter was supposed to suck the last remaining breath out of San Francisco, but the power outage almost did the same to Baltimore instead.
The 49ers dealt with a blackout at their own stadium in the 2011 regular season, and went on to win that game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. They didn't end up with the same fate against another AFC North Division team this time, although some members of the team immediately harkened back to that night with hope. The Niners stormed out of the newly-lit gate with a 17-point outburst that made what was once a 22-point blowout into another close game on America's biggest stage.
Colin Kaepernick and the Niners' offense appeared to be different animals upon re-taking the field. After scoring six points in the first half, the team got within two points in the closing minutes of the game. Only a failed two-point conversion prevented the game from being tied in the fourth for the first time since it was scoreless on the first drive of the game.
Despite San Francisco's best efforts, the largest deficit for an eventual Super Bowl winner stays at 10 points, which has been pulled off twice. It was only because of the other huge event in the game that that statement is still true.
The Baltimore Ravens' defense has been heralded as a group of geniuses and practically been called geezers on the other end of the spectrum. Depending on whom you speak to, they've either been the best defense in the NFL for pretty much Ray Lewis' whole career, or a team of has-beens that have coincidentally had a large improvement during the playoffs after a lackluster regular season. The Baltimore D looked shaky at times during the second half, but the last drive looked a lot more like the former than the latter, staving off an epic would-be comeback inside the game's final two minutes.
A 33-yard run by Frank Gore put the 49ers in a fantastic position to win the game. Kaepernick and the Niners started the next set of downs from the Baltimore seven yard line. LaMichael James ran for a couple of yards, then the Ravens' defense broke up three straight pass attempts by Kaepernick to get the ball back. Without that drive, there would have been an incredible amount of pressure on Joe Flacco to get the ball within field goal range just to tie the game if Justin Tucker connected.
Instead, the Ravens wisely ran all but the final four seconds off the clock and took an intentional safety. Because a holding call in their own end zone would have given the 49ers two points anyway, the intentional holding by pretty much every offensive lineman while punter Sam Koch danced around took away any chance the Niners could win with anything but a great kick return away.
Depending on your point of view, it's either ironic or completely fitting that Ray Lewis was on the field for the most important play of the game, and his team followed through. The defense ended up saving the day despite the best efforts of a few generators around the Super Dome.
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