FROM TOP: ROB CARR/GETTY IMAGES; JEFF SINER/CHARLOTTE OBSERVER/MCT VIA GETTY IMAGES
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their shared bedroom was bifurcated by a line of tape, the game
between the 49ers and Ravens
has been dubbed the HarBowl
(and sometimes the Bro Bowl or
the Harbaugh Bowl). On Thanksgiving 2011, the Harbaughs made
history by becoming the first
brothers to face off as NFL head
coaches. The Ravens emerged
victorious, 16-6. Oddsmakers favored Jim, 49, and the 49ers to
win this Super rematch, but bettors moved the line toward the
older brother’s team as kickoff
approached. If the game could
end with neither team winning, losing or covering the point
spread, that would be just fine
with the mother of both coaches.
“I am going to be neutral in
the game,” Jackie, the mother of
both coaches, who participated
in a pre-game media call with her
husband Jack, an accomplished
coach as well. “I know one is going to win and one is going to
lose, but I would really like to end
in a tie. Can the NFL do that?”
Not if John or Jim has anything
to do with it.
With a draw unlikely and a
surfeit of sibling coverage assured, here are 10 storylines to
follow leading up to the game
that have nothing to do with
birth order in the Harbaugh family.
SPORTS
HUFFINGTON
02.03.13
JOE FLACCO
The Ravens’ quarterback doesn’t have the off-field
glamor or Super Bowl-ring glitter of Tom Brady,
but he has outplayed him in two straight AFC title
games. Even his father called him “dull,” but he is
making a case that he is among the game’s elite
signal callers.
NEW ORLEANS VS. THE NFL
In what appeared to be an attempt to placate local
fans ahead of his arrival, NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell lifted the season-long suspension of Saints
coach Sean Payton a bit early. Needless to say,
this gesture will not make fans forget about the
punishments levied — and in some cases rescinded
— in the Bountygate scandal.