Some good stuff from John Clayton....
What will the Ravens' defense have to figure out over the next two weeks to prepare for Kaepernick? Few defenses have successfully figured out how to stop the read option. For the final three quarters, the Falcons were at a complete loss responding to Kaepernick's read-option fakes. Kaepernick ran the ball only twice, and his only run for positive yardage, a 23-yarder, was just a pure scramble. Nevertheless, the Falcons were vulnerable to the rest of the 49ers running the ball. Kaepernick said the Falcons concentrated on stopping the outside runs, hoping to contain him from running wide like he did while rushing for 181 yards against the
Green Bay Packers last week. The 49ers expected one Falcons defender to spy him. What Kaepernick did was fake the run and then hand off to Frank Gore. The middle of the field was open. "I knew all week they were talking about preventing Kaep from getting outside," Gore said. "I knew going in I was going to have a great chance to make plays." Gore rushed for 90 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. It seems as though the Falcons' defense parted in the middle because it was worried about Kaepernick's running ability. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the 49ers used the read option 13 times Sunday. Backs averaged 5.2 yards and scored three touchdowns on those plays. The Ravens had only one game against a read-option quarterback in 2012. They lost to the Redskins 31-28 in overtime in Week 14. They may be suited to stop the read option because they run a 3-4, but it won't be easy.
How do you put the 49ers in perspective heading into this Super Bowl? They are old school. Jim Harbaugh entered coaching with a quarterback background, but he has the old-school approach to the game. Credit that to training from former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler. Though he has worked with
Andrew Luck in college and Alex Smith and Kaepernick in the pros, Harbaugh uses the old-school approach of running the football and not spreading the field with wide receivers. During the regular season, the 49ers used three-receiver sets only 13.2 plays a game, lowest in the league. He has used two- and three-tight end sets. He did the same at Stanford when everyone else was using four- and five-receiver sets. "We believe in running the football," Justin Smith said. "If you are good running the ball and stopping the run, you are going to do well." Of late, though, teams have shifted more to passing. The Patriots (who ran the ball 40.5 percent of the time) and
New York Giants (40 percent) met last year in the Super Bowl and weren't good running teams. The Packers won Super Bowl XLV with a team that ran the ball 42.1 percent of the time. The Saints won the year before that running 45.3 percent of the time. The 49ers are old school. They rushed 50.8 percent of the time in 2012. Their defense stays away from a lot of situational substitution, working mostly with a group of 13 defenders. They'll substitute a cornerback for a nose tackle when teams go to three receivers, but that's just about it. Old school.
What's the injury situation for both teams? The 49ers are completely healthy. Justin Smith, playing with a partially torn triceps muscle, started slowly in the first quarter Sunday but got stronger and finished the game playing well. Cornerback
Tarell Brown (shoulder), linebacker
Aldon Smith (shoulder) and fullback
Bruce Miller (shoulder) were on last week's injury report, but they all played and didn't suffer any setbacks. The Ravens are in good shape, too. Cornerback
Asa Jackson missed the game with a thigh injury. Halfback
Bernard Pierce (knee), fullback
Vonta Leach (knee, ankle), wide receiver
David Reed (thigh) and linebacker
Dannell Ellerbe (ankle) were listed as questionable but all played.
How should having Jerome Boger as the referee affect the game? It could lead to a lower scoring Super Bowl. Games handled by Boger's crew this season averaged 41.3 points, 4.4 fewer than the league average and the second-lowest in football. The league assembles an all-star crew of officials for the Super Bowl, so some of the trends won't completely hold up. Still, Boger tends to be involved with a few more holding calls than most other officials. His 35 holding penalties were eighth most among the 17 crews of officials.