Sports

Ravens outlast 49ers to claim Super Bowl crown

SEALED WITH A KISS: Defensive end Arthur Jones kisses the Lombardi trophy after the Ravens’ 34-31 victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII last night.

SEALED WITH A KISS: Defensive end Arthur Jones kisses the Lombardi trophy after the Ravens’ 34-31 victory over the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII last night. (AP)

NEW ORLEANS — Score one for the big brother.

Like any good contest between brothers, the Har-bowl was a doozy filled with twists and turns — and even a blackout.

In the end, older brother John Harbaugh and the Ravens prevailed over little brother Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers in an epic battle, winning Super Bowl XLVII 34-31 at the Superdome.

The Ravens dominated the game early, taking a 22-point lead at the start of the second half. Then the Superdome lost power in half the building and when it came back the 49ers had a power surge. The 49ers came roaring back, taking 20 minutes of real time to get right back into the game, eventually cutting the deficit to two.

But the Ravens held on to win their second Super Bowl title in franchise history.

“It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t pretty, but it was us,” John Harbaugh said.

The Ravens sent linebacker Ray Lewis out with another Super Bowl title in his final game. Quarterback Joe Flacco was tremendous, completing 22-of-33 passes for 287 yards and three touchdowns on his way to winning MVP.

“I don’t think it’s going to settle in for a while,” Flacco said. “We don’t make anything easy. It was a hard-fought game on both sides. I think we gave the country a pretty good game to watch. Not to our liking necessarily, but that’s the way it goes sometimes and that’s the way we do things.”

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The 49ers had a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter after 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick scored a 15-yard touchdown to make it 31-29 with 9:57 left to play, but Kaepernick’s pass sailed high over Randy Moss’ head on the two-point conversion.

The Ravens then took the ball back and mounted a 10-play drive that took away much of the fourth quarter. The 49ers kept them out of the end zone, though, to stay alive. Justin Tucker kicked a 38-yard field goal to make it 34-29 with 4:19 left in the game.

Kaepernick marched the 49ers down the field to the Ravens 5-yard line with two minutes left, but the Ravens mounted a goal-line stand and Kaepernick’s pass sailed out of the end zone on fourth down to seal the classic game.

The 49ers felt that Jimmy Smith should have been called for holding or pass interference on the fourth-down throw for his defense against Michael Crabtree.

“There’s no question in my mind that there was a pass interference and then a hold on Crabtree on that last one,” Jim Harbaugh said.

The Ravens gave the 49ers two more points when punter Sam Koch took some time off the clock running around the end zone before going out of bounds for a safety to make the score 34-31.

It looked like the Ravens were going to run away with the game when Jacoby Jones took the opening kickoff of the second half 108 yards for a touchdown that put the Ravens up 28-6.

The power then went out with 13:22 left in the third quarter for 34 minutes and when the lights came back on the 49ers looked like a different team. They scored two touchdowns in the next 20 minutes of actual time and stormed back into the game, which had felt like it was over.

After the game, the Harbaugh brothers met on the field and shook hands, but did not hug. John tapped Jim on the chest and Jim touched John’s face.

“It was really hard,” John Harbaugh said. “At the end of the game that was the hardest thing I have ever experienced.”

The Ravens dominated the first half with Flacco throwing three touchdown passes and their defense not allowing Kaepernick to ever get rolling.

The Ravens took a 7-0 lead on their first series when Flacco connected with Anquan Boldin on a 13-yard touchdown pass on a drive that was extended by a 49ers penalty, something that plagued San Francisco all night.

The 49ers managed only two David Akers field goals in the first half and were trailing 21-6 at halftime. When Jones returned the kickoff to start the second half, the game appeared over. But the 49ers kept it interesting to the end.

For the Ravens, this was the culmination of an odd season. They switched offensive coordinators in December, promoting Jim Caldwell after firing Cam Cameron. Like Eli Manning a year ago, Flacco endured an “is he elite?” debate all season. Then, Lewis announced he was retiring at season’s end before the playoffs started.

In the playoffs, the Ravens beat the Colts at home before pulling off a miraculous victory in Denver over Peyton Manning and the Broncos. They beat Tom Brady and the Patriots to make it to the Super Bowl, where they were underdogs again to the 49ers.

“We didn’t get any respect the whole postseason,” Ravens running back Ray Rice said. “Every game we were counted out, even versus Indianapolis. I think just in general, the only way to go out and get respect is to go out and take it.”