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Sunday, February 3, 2013

Ravens hold off 49ers' surge, win Super Bowl XLVII

Baltimore overcomes power outage, blown lead to beat Niners 34-31

Image: Super Bowl XLVII - Baltimore Ravens v San Francisco 49ersGetty Images
Joe Flacco (left) of the Baltimore Ravens celebrates after throwing a touchdown pass in the first quarter against the San Francisco 49ers during Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Feb. 3, 2013 in New Orleans, La.
NBCSports.com news services
updated 5:53 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2013

NEW ORLEANS - The Baltimore Ravens fended off a second half surge from the San Francisco 49ers and overcame a 30-plus minute power outage to win Super Bowl XLVII 34-31.

Ravens QB Joe Flacco threw three touchdowns — all in the first half — and Baltimore held off San Francisco's charge following the long second half delay.

QB Colin Kaepernick's 15-yard touchdown cut Baltimore's lead to 31-29 with 9:57 to play, but the 49ers failed at a two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game.

Ravens kicker Justin Tucker hit a 38-yard field goal -- his second of the game -- to extend Baltimore's lead back to five points at 34-29. A late intentional safety by the Ravens with four seconds to play made it 34-31, which is how the game ended.

Shortly after Jacoby Jones took the 2nd half kickoff back 108 yards to extend the Baltimore Ravens' lead to 28-6 early in the third quarter, but then the lights went out at the Superdome.

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The power outage completely shifted momentum. Once the lights came back on, the 49ers turned it on as well. They drove 80 yards in just over three minutes, with a 31-yard pass from Kaepernick to Michael Crabtree cuting Baltimore's lead to 28-13.

San Francisco followed that up with a six-yard TD run by Frank Gore. The 49ers started the drive on the Baltimore 20 after Ted Ginn Jr.'s 32-yard return. David Akers hit a 34-yard field goal to cut Baltimore's lead to just five.

Kicker Justin Tucker's 19-yard field goal gave the Ravens some relief, extending the lead back to 31-23. But Kaepernick's TD with 9:57 left in the game put the Niners within two points.

Flacco started the game off hot. His record-tying 11th TD of the postseason was a 56-yard bomb to Jones with 1:45 left in the first half. Flacco finished the postseason without throwing an interception.


Slideshow

Super Bowl blackout
Take a visual tour of Super Bowl XLVII's blackout in the Superdome

Akers converted his second field goal of the game as time expired in the first half to put the 49ers within two scores.

Baltimore caught a break early when the 49ers were called for a penalty on third down, extending the Ravens' drive. On the next play, Joe Flacco found Anquan Boldin for a 13-yard touchdown to give the Ravens a 7-0 lead.

Akers converted a 36-yard field goal with 4:03 left in the first quarter to cut Baltimore's lead to four.

Flacco threw his second touchdown pass with 7:15 to go in the first half to extend Baltimore's lead. It was Flacco's 10th TD of the postseason; he has not thrown any interceptions.

Kaepernick threw an interception immediately following Flacco's second touchdown. Ed Reed came up with the ball on the other end, tying a record with his ninth all-time postseason pick.

The Ravens, however, got nothing out of the turnover. Coach John Harbaugh called a fake field goal on fourth and nine, Tucker's run came up a yard short.

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