If you’re a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, Super Bowl 47 was rough. We had to choose between rooting for the Baltimore Ravens, one of our biggest rivals, or the San Francisco 49ers, who could tie our beloved team’s record for most Super Bowl wins. As a die hard black and gold fan, the only part of the game that I was genuinely excited for was Beyonce’s killer halftime show.
When the big day finally arrived, I had chosen to root for the 49ers. Despite the fact that we could lose our Super Bowl bragging rights. For me, anything is better than a Ravens win.
The game started off with a landslide of momentum in favor of the Ravens. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was looking less like the Flacco that Steelers fans have enjoyed mocking and more like a quarterback that could win a Super Bowl. It’s safe to say that Steelers Nation was stunned in the first half.
The 49ers weren’t playing strong at all during the first half. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick couldn’t lead the offense down the field and the defense was getting walked all over. Also, Ravens safety Ed Reed intercepted Kaepernick on a pass intended for wide receiver Randy Moss during a crucial drive in the second quarter. The play resulted in a fight between the two teams that brought both coaches onto the field and resulted in two unnecessary roughness penalties. Ravens cornerback Cary Williams pushed a referee during the fight, but somehow managed to get away with it.
I had all but given up hope when halftime arrived and the Ravens were up 21-6.
The second half of the game opened up with Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones catching the ball deep in the end zone and making a 108-yard kickoff return. After this happened, I was praying that Beyonce would come back on for an encore.
Along came the 34-minute power outage. One of my favorite tweets during this time came from Steelers linebacker James Harrison’s “If I can’t play then can’t nobody play. Lights out!” referencing the outage during the game between the Steelers and the 49ers last season.
Play eventually resumed and the 49ers finally looked like they came to play. Kaepernick led the 49ers to 17 unanswered points in the third quarter.
When the fourth quarter began, you would’ve sworn the Steelers were playing by how much I was cheering and pulling for the 49ers.
As the quarter was coming to an end, the 49ers had the ball with four minutes remaining and were down 34-29. With four minutes left and the momentum they had, I thought they were going to pull it off. Kaepernick made a fourth down touchdown attempt to wide receiver Michael Crabtree. During the play it looked like Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith held Crabtree, preventing him from making the catch. The non-call resulted in an uproar from 49ers fans and several analysts. The penalty would have given the 49ers a 1st and goal and a chance to win the game.
The Ravens shocked viewers in the final moments of the game when they decided to take time off the clock by having taking an intentional safety. I have to admit that I was impressed by the play-call, but at the same time wasn’t happy because it essentially secured the win for the Ravens. I held onto the last bit of hope I had that the 49ers would return the free kick for a touchdown, but they didn’t deliver.
Although I have to accept the fact that the Ravens are the Super Bowl champions, it makes me feel a little better when I think back to December when good ole’ Charlie Batch defeated the Super Bowl champions on their home turf.
