By: Ryan Welte
SUPER BOWL CHAMPS
The Baltimore Ravens have achieved football's ultimate prize: Claiming the Super Bowl Trophy. The Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in a thrilling 34-31 victory. Key contributors were Joe Flacco, who threw for 3 Touchdown passes, and Jacoby Jones who had a receiving touchdown and tied the Super Bowl record with a 108 yard kickoff return touchdown to start the 3rd Quarter.
Joe Flacco won double with his Super Bowl performance. Last year Flacco rejected a long-term offer with the Baltimore Ravens because he knew he was worth more money. 12 months later, everyone knows he will be sitting on a pile of cash. The highest paid Quarterback currently is Drew Brees at $20 million a year, but Flacco and his agent have made it aware that they expect for Flacco to have a higher salary than that. Obviously, the Ravens have no choice but to "Pay the Man!"
The most memorable moment from this Super Bowl may not be a hilarious commercial, incredible halftime performance, or a great game in which 1 team becomes world champions, but I think we will remember it for the moment when the lights in the stadium went out. The game was delayed an entire 34 minutes while hard workers worked frantically to flip the light switch back on. Some people say it is a scandal and someone did it on purpose for some sort of financial gain. I don't think we as a public will ever know the true reason of why the lights of the Super Dome were turned off, but it did create a game.
The 49ers before the lights issue were being trounced. After the game resumed and the lights were fixed, the Niners made a huge run and were in position with 2 minutes left on the Ravens 10 yardline to take a lead. They failed to do so though and lost the game, which I am pleased. If the Niners had actually come back to win it, than this possible "Scandal" would be a lot bigger than it actually is. Also, I wanted to get my prediction from the previous Sports Circus Edition correct, which I did.
The Ravens had one of the saddest stories in the NFL this season also. Star WR Torrey Smith's younger brother tragically died in a motorcycle accident on the eve of a game in Week 3 and no one expected Smith to play the game. Smith and his family wanted him to still go out and perform, in memory of their lost family member. That next night, Smith had the game of his career on National Television with two receiving touchdowns in the Ravens victory.
The question always immediately becomes whether they can repeat and win a title next year. I think this team is strong and built for long-term success. There are a couple of issues. The defense that has been dominate