Why San Francisco are the Donegal of the NFL and why Jimmy Harbaugh is about to win the biggest match in US sports.
Much and all as I hate to pat myself on the back, but way back at the start of the season I picked the San Francisco 49ers to win the Super Bowl. They were available at 14/1 at the time and I was sure that they would give me a good run for my money this season, even if they mightn’t bring home the Vince Lombardi.
Thankfully, the California team have lived up to my pre-season hopes and made it all the way to Super Bowl 47 in New Orleans this Sunday (kick-off 11.30pm). Waiting for them are the Baltimore Ravens and it has all the makings of a great game.
If you are not a rabid NFL fan, here are some of the things to watch out for.
1. Brotherly battle
The coach of the 49ers is Jim Harbaugh. The Ravens top man is John Harbaugh, younger brother of Jim by 15 months. Expect lots and lots of shots of their proud parents in the stands and loads of talk about them in the pre-game. You will become sick of the phrase ‘Har-Bowl’. It won’t mean an awful lot once the game starts, but it is a unique situation.
2. Ray Lewis’ swansong
The Ravens best known player is a guy called Ray Lewis. A 17-year vet of the league, he has said he is retiring at the end of the season so this should be his final game. A controversial figure for an off-field murder charge he narrowly avoided a few years back and for repeated allegations of performance enhancing drug use, Lewis is the team’s leader and his story – or a heavily spun version of it – will play a huge part of the coverage. Once a defensive titan, his powers have dimmed somewhat but we advise you watch out for the No. 52 anyway.
And if the Ravens win, expect lots of this sort of thing.
3. QB story
Every NFL game is about the quarterbacks. They take too much praise in success and to much grief in defeat. It ain’t right, but that’s why they get paid more than everybody else. Sunday sees Joe Flacco, the Ravens QB, attempt to prove he is elite after years of doubts about how good he actually is. For me he is the best deep ball thrower in the game and if you want to see long, long passes win games, then Joe is the man for you. With his contract up for negotiation, a winning performance will see him get paid a monster salary. Lots of incentives there then.
The other team rides in on a guy called Colin Kaepernick, who will be starting just his tenth game on Sunday. Athletic, with an ability to run that Flacco can only dream of, he has looked magnificent since he came in for the safe, dependable former No. 1 Alex Smith in mid-season. At 25, this is a massive game for the novice, but he has shown he can win by passing and by rushing. The Ravens will try to limit his run, so he needs to have a big night with his arm. He’s more than capable of it.
Prediction
So who is going to win? Well I’m not going to desert my 49ers at this stage. They are favourites for the game by 3.5 points, and the money line is a simple 5/9 if you want to back them. Most think the game will be close but I think the 49ers can win this one big.
Why? This brings me to the main reason why I went for San Fran way back in September. They are the Donegal of the NFL. They are organised, experts in defence and they are led by a messianic man named Jim. As well as that, they came very close last year before realising that they needed a bit more firepower if they were to go all the way. So they opened up a bit more, brought in Kaepernick and now they are one win away from the big one.
With all due respect to Mayo, there was a certain inevitability to Donegal’s win last September. We have similar vibe towards the 49ers going into this one.
I’m going to go for San Francisco by 10, let’s say 27-17.
