San Francisco 49ers: Top 10 games of the decade
By James Jones
No. 2: Ravens @ 49ers: Super Bowl XLVII — Feb. 3, 2013
The 49ers’ sixth Super Bowl appearance makes this list at No. 2 simply because it was their sixth Super Bowl appearance. That might be a bit of sour grapes, so to speak, but we digress.
San Francisco started with the ball in this game and appeared to get off on the right foot. On the team’s first play, Colin Kaepernick ran a play action to Frank Gore, kept the ball and found Vernon Davis for a 21-yard gain. The play would be called back due to an illegal-formation penalty and it was all downhill from there.
The 49ers would punt and their defense would give up a touchdown, as Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco connected with wide receiver Anquan Boldin. In what seemed like a matter of five minutes, Baltimore took a 21-6 lead to end the first half.
The Ravens would then go ahead 28-6 after wide receiver Jacoby Jones took the second-half kickoff 108 yards to the other way for a touchdown. The 49ers looked all but done, as a 22-point deficit for a team not moving the ball seemed almost insurmountable.
What happened next may or may not have changed the momentum of the game. There was a blackout inside the Mercedes Benz Superdome lasting for a little over 30 minutes. The 49ers, who had found it next to impossible to sustain drives in the first half, looked like a different team after that.
Kaepernick and the 49ers reeled off 15 unanswered points, and with 3:10 to play in the third quarter, the score was 28-23. A Justin Tucker field goal would increase the Ravens lead to 31-23 before Kaepernick led another scoring drive, ending with his 15-yard run to pay dirt. A failed two-point conversion left the 49ers still trailing 31-29
After another field goal from Tucker made the score 34-29 with 4:19 left in regulation. Kaepernick and Gore led the 49ers to the Baltimore 7-yard line after the latter broke off left tackle for a 33-yard gain.
One run and three straight incomplete passes to Michael Crabtree was the end for the 49ers in what very well could have been the team’s sixth Super Bowl victory.