Super Bowl Prediction

On Sunday the 49ers will play for the Professional Football Championship for the first time in 18 years.  Super Bowl XLVII has all the makings of an all time game.  Two evenly matched teams with similar styles facing off.

My prediction for the game is that the 49ers will win 31-20, opening up the lead in the fourth quarter behind the strength of their offensive line.

This matchup is going to be the toughest of the postseason for both the 49ers and Ravens.  For the first time they each face an opponent that is balanced.  Until this point their opponents have featured offenses that are heavily focused on throwing the ball.

The 49ers have struggled defensively against this type of team all season long, and they will have their struggles again on Sunday early on.  The Ravens will have some success early running and moving the ball, as will the 49ers.  The difference in this game compared to the others in which the 49ers faced balanced opponents will be their offense.  Unlike early in the season when they struggled to move the ball on offense, the 49ers have found a groove this postseason.

After a pick 6 on their opening possession against Green Bay in the Divisional round they were almost unstoppable.  The same thing occurred the following week in the NFC Championship Game.  After struggling through the first quarter, the 49ers offense moved the ball almost at will over the final 3 quarters, the only thing that stopped them from scoring was themselves, with a missed David Akers field goal on one drive, and a Michael Crabtree fumble at the goalline on the next possession.

The Ravens defense has performed very well through their 3 postseason victories, but they have yet to face an offense like the 49ers.  Sure the Colts, Broncos, and Patriots feature Luck, Manning, and Brady, but none of those teams has a running game to go with those elite QB's like the 49ers bring to the table.

I don't see the Ravens linebackers being able to hold up in pass coverage against Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker and the running backs out of the backfield.  This is a matchup that favors the 49ers.  Add in the running game, which with the Pistol is going to attack the edge of the Ravens defense away from their strength inside making a slower Ray Lewis run from sideline to sideline, and by the 4th quarter the offense will prove to be too much for the Ravens to stop.

So as I stated, look for a close game through the first quarter or so, but as the game wears on the 49ers will control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball to pull away for a double digit victory.

49ers 31 Ravens 20