Superbowl xlvii pick! Who do u got?

[mojo]

If the Ravens go into this trying to play smash mouth football they're going to lose.

Flacco has looked like a good QB (somehow) of late, and the 9ers pass defense and pass rush have been pretty poor lately. They need to open up with the intermediate and deep passing game (get over the front 7), and use that to establish the run (which opens up when playing the 9ers once you've established the pass game, but never before) and to get people over pursuing to utilize Rice in the screen game. On defense, the Ravens basically just have to hope the 9ers come out cold again. That's their best chance of stopping them, IMO.

I think the Ravens have a decent chance, provided they play to their recent strengths and the 9ers recent weaknesses, and don't just try to manage the game based on their reputation, or based on what worked in the Thanksgiving game last year. That's a recipe for disaster IMO, and as a 9ers fan, one I hope they try to cook with, of course.

Even if the Ravens win, I will be pacified in my resentment knowing that the contract Flacco ends up getting because of it will be franchise killing in the short term. An incredibly old team with a newly minted, horribly overpaid QB will definitely take the sting of the loss off. ;)

I think Ravens fans think that the 49ers are a better team than last year, and Kaeperneck gives them something at QB that they didn't have with Smith, and yes, a running QB is a lot different to deal with than Brady and Manning, especially one like Kaeperneck. What may favor the Ravens a little is that the 49ers do not look deep on the defensive line, and that they may be wearing down at the end of the season, or maybe they just had a bad game against Atlanta? Certainly the SF LBers are the best in the league, and the 49ers are going to rely on them heavily, so going vanilla up front may be the way to do that.

I see it as a close game, and one probably decided in the red zone.....and by turnovers, and the kicking game.

[vikingfan]

I notice not a single 9er fan has mentioned Akers. If it comes down to kicking, which is quite likely, Baltimore has a huge edge. Akers just missed a 38-yarder in a DOME last week.

[Genus49]

I notice not a single 9er fan has mentioned Akers. If it comes down to kicking, which is quite likely, Baltimore has a huge edge. Akers just missed a 38-yarder in a DOME last week.

There is a reason we don't mention him...

[PopeyeJones]

I notice not a single 9er fan has mentioned Akers. If it comes down to kicking, which is quite likely, Baltimore has a huge edge. Akers just missed a 38-yarder in a DOME last week.

Akers is definitely worth mentioning, but TBH I just don't see the game as being that close as people are insisting it must be, particularly because I think people are assuming a defensive struggle they're not going to get. Both these teams have the reputation for have strong defenses and weak offenses (what people are going off of), but if you've been watching them, the reverse has been true.

[Lester]

I think I will bet Ravens on the ML.

[mojo]

Akers is definitely worth mentioning, but TBH I just don't see the game as being that close as people are insisting it must be, particularly because I think people are assuming a defensive struggle they're not going to get. Both these teams have the reputation for have strong defenses and weak offenses (what people are going off of), but if you've been watching them, the reverse has been true.

Yes, you have a good point there.