Ravens and 49ers Set For Battle in New Orleans

After a gruling 17 week regular season and another three more weeks of playoff football, the stage is finally set to see who will be crowned the champions of the National Football League. Super Bowl XLVII is set to go this Sunday night from the Superdome in New Orleans as the NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers play host to the AFC Champion Baltimore Ravens.

This will mark the first Super Bowl in which both of the teams have appeared in, but not yet lost, a previous Super Bowl: the 49ers have won all five of their previous Super Bowls while the Ravens won in their only previous Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXXV against the New York Giants. This means that the winner will become the only remaining team in the NFL to have appeared in multiple Super Bowls without losing one. This will also be the first Super Bowl in which both teams can trace their lineage to the All-America Football Conference, as the Ravens are descended from the Cleveland Browns franchise, which joined the NFL along with the 49ers when the AAFC disbanded in 1949.

Much of the pregame media hype centered around the Harbaugh brothers, and how their father Jack, a former college football head coach, raised them. On January 24, Jack, along with his wife Jackie and daughter Joani, conducted a media conference call, answering questions about John and Jim. Jackie jokingly asked if the game could end in a tie, before stating that the family is staying neutral but remain excited that both John and Jim brought their respective teams to the Super Bowl.

In head to head meetings between these teams, the Ravens have dominated San Francisco in the three previous meetings since 2001. First was November 30th, 2003 in which the Ravens won 44-6, while the 2nd meeting again went to the Ravens 9-7 back on October 7th, 2007, and finally the Ravens won the last meeting between the two back on November 24th, 2011 by a score of 16-6.

During the regular season, the 49ers put up better statistical numbers then the Ravens. It may not mean a whole lot come playoff time but it does still need to be considered. This matchup on paper seems to be pretty even and will turn out to be a great football game. In the end I think its going to come down to the kicking game. In that regards, Baltimore has the advantage. David Akers has been a little shaky for the 49ers in the playoffs missing eight field goals, which for him is unusual. Now consider the fact that the game is being played in a Dome which could even things out more. This game will turn into a shootout and go right down to the wire. Final score prediction: Ravens 30, 49ers 27!