Super Bowl XLVII: The Preview

Super Bowl Sunday Countdown: 1 Day

Photo credit to International Business Times.

Super Bowl weekend is finally upon us. In less than 36 hours the NFL will have a new defending champion. Today I will not be making my prediction, but I wanted to preview this game before I choose a winner since I don’t actually choose my official prediction on my own. Instead, today I will cover each aspect of the game and give an edge to a team.

Offense

On first glance, Baltimore and San Francisco are pretty even. Frank Gore is a little more power than Ray Rice, while Rice is a little speedier than Gore, but neither is limited to running for speed or for power. The 49ers had better depth before Kendall Hunter went down with an injury, but LaMichael James and Bernard Pierce are about equal.

At receiver, San Francisco has Randy Moss and Michael Crabtree. I give the Ravens a pretty clear advantage at receiver because of how stellar Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin have been this postseason. People give Boldin grief for not being as good as he was in Arizona, but I disagree with them. Jacoby Jones is a solid third receiver and the 49ers don’t really have much of a third option.

But there is another factor in the receiving game, and that is of course the Tight End. Dennis Pitta vs Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker; looks like a clear advantage here. The fact that San Francisco doesn’t really have a good third receiver and Davis still makes plays is remarkable.

The offensive lines are fairly equal in both the run game and the pass game, so not much to talk about up front.

As for the quarterbacks, it would be easy to continue to hate on Joe Flacco and call him overrated. I don’t really know where I stand on that argument right now, but he has had a fantastic postseason and I give him a lot of credit for that. So when I say that I give the edge at quarterback to San Francisco, it is not because I think Colin Kaepernick is a better quarterback than Flacco. It is because the 49ers have more versatility with Kaepernick than the Ravens do with Flacco.

Offensive Edge: San Francisco 49ers

Defense

If you look solely as defensive statistics from this past season, you’ll see that the 49ers were better than the Ravens in just about every category, in some more significantly than in others. A lot of people are leaning on those stats to claim that San Francisco has a clear edge. Ray Lewis changes that, whether you like to admit it or not. He was missing for 10 games during the regular season, during which the Ravens defensive rankings went down steadily. This defensive unit looks completely different this postseason. They look much more focused, much more energized, and much more comfortable working with each other.

On the defensive line, it is hard not to give the edge to the 49ers. Even though Aldon Smith is officially listed as the 49ers’ starting ROLB, he comes up to play off the line alongside Justin Smith pretty often and is very dangerous. Because of this, I tend to treat Aldon Smith as a lineman.

Take him away from the linebacker corps, and it’s much more even between Baltimore and San Francisco. If anything, it gives the edge to the Ravens with Lewis, Courtney Upshaw, Terrell Suggs and Albert McClellan. Good as they are, I don’t know that Ahmad Brooks, NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis quite measure up.

In the defensive secondary, I have to give the edge to the Ravens, and it’s not even close. Corey Graham and Cary Williams have been phenomenal on the corners this offseason. They rarely get beat and with 40 times around 4.4, they have the speed to make up for occasionally mistakes. Carlos Rogers and Tarell Brown have nothing on Graham and Williams.

Deeper in the secondary, Donte Whitner and Dashon Goldson have done a pretty good job, and C.J. Spillman is a good third man, but I again give the edge to Baltimore. Ed Reed is still a ball hawk and is healthy right now. James Ihedigbo is a terrific player and Bernard Pollard made a huge difference in the secondary when he returned from injury just like Ray did at middle linebacker.

Defensive Edge: Baltimore Ravens

Special Teams

Andy Lee has been slightly better than Sam Koch in the punting game this season, but it is by no close margin that Justin Tucker has outkicked David Akers. Just one year removed from setting the NFL record for most converted field goals in a season, Akers has been arguably the third most unreliable kicker in the league.

In the return game, Ted Ginn Jr. was much more explosive in 2011 than this season. LaMichael James has been pretty solid in kickoff returns, but Jacoby Jones has both of them beat in all aspects of the return game.

Special Teams Edge: Baltimore Ravens

Coaching Staffs

I personally believe that Jim Harbaugh is a better coach than his brother, John. It isn’t by a wide margin, but he has a very different relationship with his players than John does with his. Neither has, in any way, a poor relationship with their teams, but I think Jim’s personality is a little more conducive to coaching football players.

That said, I give Baltimore the edge with the assistant coaches. It is getting harder and harder to say that Jim Caldwell shouldn’t be the long-term offensive coordinator in Baltimore. His play calling has been very good this postseason, though it was very strange in the Denver game. Dean Pees has done a great job replacing Chuck Pagano on the defensive side. I like San Francisco’s position coaches a little more, but when it comes to coaching staffs, you have to look at head coaches and coordinators. The position coaches don’t have a huge affect on how the games go.

Coaching Edge: Even

Tomorrow I will make my official prediction by playing Madden, which I have done every year since the Ravens’ first Super Bowl appearance. To stay updated on my blog as new posts are published, ‘like’ my blog’s Facebook page and follow me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.