It looks like EA’s prediction was right: the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers for Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3, 2013, over the San Francisco 49ers. With a final score of 34-31, the Baltimore Ravens took home the Vince Lombardi trophy in 2013.
What started off as a blowout eventually became a heated contest. The first half of the game saw the Baltimore Ravens clobbering the 49ers, staying consistently ahead of them.
Only in the third quarter, after the power outage (which viewers joked was caused by an excessive halftime show, or Bane having shown up), did the game begin to pick up, with a score of 28-23 as the 49ers grew closer to the Ravens.
The lights going out somehow motivated the 49ers to pick up their game. The game stayed neck-and-neck to the end, with a score of 31-29 midway through the fourth quarter. It was an edge-of-your-seat several minutes as the final quarter wound down. But in the end, going all the way to the end of the quarter, the Ravens still managed to come out on top.
The night held other records for the Ravens. For the first time, apart from their other five appearances at the Super Bowl, their quarterback threw a Super Bowl interception. The quarterback in question is Colin Kaepernick, overthrowing a ball to safety Ed Reed over the middle. In addition, Jacoby Jones for the Ravens matched NFL history for the longest touchdown—108 yards.
The entertainment and ceremonial parts of the Super Bowl got off to a great start. First, there was Jennifer Hudson’s moving rendition of the “America the Beautiful,” where she was joined by students from Sandy Hook Elementary School. As Wendy Geller for Yahoo! put it, “Football stars on both teams looked visibly moved by the tribute, which was executed flawlessly by both the smiling children and Hudson--the latter who filled the stadium with her Aretha Franklin-like powerful vocals.”
And then there was Alicia Keyes, for which Billy Johnson Jr. for Yahoo! wrote: “Dressed in an elegant, crimson sleeveless gown, Keys played a white piano while singing a slow-paced version of the song. Keys paced herself with pauses between lyrics that extended the song to 156 seconds, surpassing Natalie Cole’s Super Bowl record of 152 seconds…It was touching and gave her an opportunity to prove that she was singing live.”
Speaking of lip-syncing: Beyonce performed at the half-time show, with the glitz and glamour turned on high. For the Huffington Post, Kia Makareshi states, “for all who tuned in to see the singer perform, it's clear she brought her A game.” Beyonce went through songs like “Love on Top,” “Crazy in Love,” and “End of Time,” joined by fellow Destiny’s Child singers Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland. She was then left alone to sing her own song, “Halo.”
It was a great night for the west coast and the south. Last year, it was the northeast’s time to shine, with the New England Patriots and the New York Giants facing off. Tonight, it was the northeast’s turn to take a back seat and let the rest of the country shine and cheer.
For more information on Super Bowl XLVII, check out Yahoo! Sports and ESPN. And as for ads, for which many people tune in just for them, you can check out Amy Poehler’s lauded Best Buy ad here, and a list of TV spots for upcoming films here on IMDB.
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