Baltimore vs San Francisco: By now, you've heard practically everything about this series from the sports pundits of TV and radio. Unfortunately, this isn't exactly a storied rivalry, but one could begin this week. Baltimore leads the series 3-1, winning the last three games. San Franciso's only win over the Ravens came in Baltimore's inaugural season of 1996. Elvis Grbac and the Niners beat Vinny Testaverde and Eric Zeier of the Ravens 38-20. Ray Lewis is the only player from that game still in the league. This is also the highest scoring game in the series. Neither team has ever shut out the other, nor have they ever gone to overtime.
The Harbaugh Bowl: Older brother, John, leads the Harbaugh series 1-0, winning the brothers' only meeting in 2011, 16-6. Although John never played in the NFL, Jim did. He was drafted in 1987 by the Chicago Bears and played for 14 seasons. In the 1995 AFC Championship game, Jim was one dropped pass in the end zone away from beating the Pittsburgh Steelers and appearing in Super Bowl XXX to face the Dallas Cowboys. Jim wore the number 4, his number at Michigan, for most of his career. He wore 14 in his rookie year and 12 his first year with the Colts. Kicker Dean Biasucci wore 4 in 1994. Jim even played for the Ravens in 1998. He finished his career as a player in San Diego from 1999-2000. After the 2000 season, Jim retired and the Chargers drafted a quarterback who ended up winning a Super Bowl with another team. His name: Drew Brees.
AFC vs NFC (The New Orleans Super Bowl Edition): This is the 10th Super Bowl held in the Crescent City. The NFC teams lead the series in New Orleans 5-4, but the AFC team won the last meeting there. In an exciting game between the New England Patriots and the defending champion St. Louis Rams, they were tied 17-17 inside the last two minutes. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, in for an injured Drew Bledsoe from earlier in the playoffs, drove the team down the field. Kicker Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48 yard field goal to win Super Bowl XXXVI, 20-17. The first one in New Orleans, was Super Bowl IV, at Tulane Stadium. The Kansas City Chiefs dominated the Minnesota Vikings 23-7. The biggest New Orleans Super Bowl blowout happened in Super Bowl XXIII, when the San Francisco 49ers put on an offensive clinic and nailed the Denver Broncos 55-10. This was also the highest scoring Super Bowl in New Orleans. New England made the most Super Bowl appearances in New Orleans with three (XX, XXXI, and XXXVI) and are 1-2 there. There have been no shutouts, nor has the game ever gone to overtime.
Other Stuff...
So who will win? According to the computer models, San Francisco will win. However, I bet those same computer models would have picked the Baltimore Colts to win Super Bowl III, the Vikings to win Super Bowl IX, the Buffalo Bills to win Super Bowl XXV, the Rams to win Super Bowl XXXVI, and the Colts to win Super Bowl XLIV. But as they say, that's why they play the game.
And who's my pick? By a sliver of a margin, I pick San Francisco. Both teams' defenses are among the best, but the team who runs the ball better will win.
If you're visiting New Orleans, catch a parade or two. There are lots of good parades in the Greater New Orleans area. If you're in Metairie on Saturday night, I'll be marching in the Krewe of Caesar with the Echoes of New Orleans Drum & Bugle Corps.
Here's some lagniappe. In fact, there are two. The first Harbaugh Bowl was a bit of a snoozer, so here's some old highlights of Jim Harbaugh as a player. The first is a YouTube video of his final 1995 AFC Championship drive with the Colts against the Steelers. The second is also a YouTube video from when he played at Michigan. Keep an eye out for other future NFL players, such as Jamie Morris (#23) and Jumbo Elliott (#72) for Michigan, and Chris Spielman (#36) and Cris Carter (#2) for Ohio State. I claim no rights of ownership to either of these videos.
Indianapolis vs Pittsburgh - Final Drive
Michigan vs Ohio State - 1986
Have a great day!!
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