Baltimore Ravens defeat San Francisco 49ers to win Superbowl 34-31

The Baltimore Ravens have won Superbowl 47.

The contest went right down to the final seconds, which had appeared unlikely with the Ravens cruising 21-6 at half-time.

The Superbowl in New Orleans will be remembered for a blackout which delayed the game by over 20 minutes early in the third quarter.

Jacoby Jones had just scored a record breaking 109-yard punt return to make it 28-6 when the lights went out, but the power failure gave the 49ers a chance to recapture their momentum.

Colin Kaepernick, making his 10th NFL start as quarterback for the 49ers, led a fightback, leading the team to 17 consecutive points in a four-and-a-half minute spell, which included turning around a Ray Rice fumble and 15-yard touchdown run, the longest by a quarterback in Superbowl history.

The Ravens rallied, and held off a fourth quarter drive by the 49ers which ended after the two-minute warning had passed.

The game ended with the Ravens taking a safety in the endzone and returning a punt with four second left.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who threw for three first quarter touchdowns to Anquan Boldin, Dennis Pitta and Jacoby Jones was awarded MVP.

Veteran lineback Ray Lewis made four tackles in his final start, bowing out at the very top in his retirement game lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

What did you think of the Superbowl? Did the right team win?

image: © rmtip21

Dan Coombs

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Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.

As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.

He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.