By Stuart Shikano
San Francisco and Baltimore. These two cities are not close together and there’s no rivalry between the two cities. Historically, there is no real rivalry between the 49ers and Ravens. But, that could be about to change.
It is quite possible that the 49ers and Ravens meet again in Super Bowl 54. In 2013, the 49ers and Ravens faced off in Super Bowl 47 from New Orleans, Louisiana. It was an exciting game remembered mainly for a Beyonce halftime performance that was followed by a blackout early in the second half. Other notable details include Baltimore getting off to a very good start and the Niners seeming to find their momentum after the blackout, the game being Ray Lewis’s last, the game being a battle of brother head coaches, and some questionable San Francisco play-calling late in the game.
Fast forward to 2019, the two best teams in football appear to be the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers. The two teams played each other recently and the game resulted in a Ravens win via a game-winning field goal. These two teams have been the most captivating watches this year. Lamar Jackson’s electric run game and acute pocket passing has been the story of the 2019 NFL season. Although, the second eye-catching story of the 2019 NFL season has been the dominance of San Francisco’s defense and the explosiveness of San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan-masterminded offense.
The easy Super Bowl prediction right now and to be honest, the seemingly accurate one is Ravens-49ers.
There would be practically a completely different cast of characters should they play in Super Bowl 54. Only five Baltimore Ravens players (G Marshal Yanda, P Sam Koch, K Justin Tucker, CB Jimmy Smith, and LS Morgan Cox) remain from the 2012-13 Super Bowl winning team. For the San Francisco 49ers, there are two players remaining, LT Joe Staley and TE Garrett Celek– the latter was placed on season-ending IR. This would not be some rematch where it is the same guys and the rivalry is mainly between star players. It would be a rematch where six players, coach John Harbaugh, and the Ravens/49ers fans would be seeing as a rematch. Funny enough, it will be the Ravens this time who have the dual threat quarterback tearing up the league alongside offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Seven years ago, that was the situation with the 49ers, as Colin Kaepernick’s exciting play ignited the league with help from Greg Roman.
Another important note is that neither the Ravens nor the 49ers have made it back to a Super Bowl since then. Somehow, after numerous disappointing seasons for both teams, both teams put together a loaded team on track to the Super Bowl in the same season. It’s like they were waiting on each other.
We still have to wait another month and a half to see if this Super Bowl matchup takes place. If it does, two Super Bowl match-ups in seven years certainly constitutes a rivalry, and a rather unlikely one at that.
So, if it happens, we can all collectively scratch our heads at how Baltimore and San Francisco became rivals.
StuartTheWW 