They Never Learn

It really was a terrific game, which I guess is all one can really ask, assuming one is not a fan of either team.  I mean I certainly have a strong connection to Baltimore, but I certainly didn't have anything riding on the game.  Anyway, despite the fact that, again, it really was a terrific game, I found certain decisions by both teams to be absolutely maddening.  I'm gonna look through the play-by-play to jog my memory:

1. 15 minutes left in the 1st quarter (yes, the first play of the game), SF 1st and 10 at their own 20, score tied 0 - 0: How the heck to do you get flagged for an illegal formation penalty on the first play of the game?  Don't teams usually script the first 10-20 plays of the game?  Didn't they practice those plays for the last two weeks?  Yikes.  Talk about a drive killer.

2. 15 minutes left in the 2nd quarter (yes, the first play of the 2nd quarter), BAL 4th and 18 at the SF 42, BAL leads 7 - 3: Umm, do anything except for punt it?  Sure, converting on 4th and 18 is unlikely, but odds are the punt will go into the endzone (which it did, netting a 22 yard punt), and SF will get past the spot of the punt within a play or two (which they did on the first play).  I mean the way the SF secondary was playing to that point, converting might not be so unlikely.

3. 3:12 left in the 2nd quarter, BAL 4th and 9 at the SF 14, BAL leads 14 - 3: Love the idea of faking a FG.  You're up by 2 scores regardless of how the play works out, right?  Make the FG, it's 17-3.  The fake fails and it's still 14-3.  My only issue is the playcall itself.  At least give the indication of some kind of trickery.  Dude is a rookie kicker, there are no blockers in front of him, and he receives the ball at least 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage.  So you're asking a rookie kicker to gain 19 yards without any blockers?

4. 12:17 left in the 3rd quarter, SF 4th and 7 at their own 46, BAL leads 28 - 6:  At this point you need points and you need stops.  Go. For. It.  If you succeed then you have great field position.  If you fail, then BAL gets the ball back in plus territory.  But you need to stop them from scoring anyway, so in the grand scheme of things, your odds of winning only decrease slightly by giving them the ball back at your 46 rather than at their 20.

5. 10:35 left in the 3rd quarter, BAL 4th and 1 at their own 44, BAL leads 28 - 6:  On the ensuing (love that word) drive, the Ravens decide that they don't want to win the game, so they punt the ball right back.  Seriously?  You're near midfield, you're averaging about six yards per play, and you have a chance to put the game out of reach.  And, oh yeah, it's the Super Bowl.  Go win the game; don't just try to not lose (and they very nearly did).  And just for good measure, the ball goes into the endzone for a touchback and a 36 yard net punt, and SF scores their first touchdown seven snaps later.

6. 7:53 left in the 3rd quarter, SF 1st and 10 at the BAL 49, BAL leads 28 - 6:  SF calls timeout as the play clock winds down.  Double yikes.  You think you won't need that timeout later?  (Spoiler alert: they really really really really did).  And it's not like it was 3rd and 2.  It was 1st and bloody 10!

Before we move on, let's acknowledge the KILLER block by Delanie Walker on Ed Reed on Gore's TD run.

7. 13:05 left in the 4th quarter, BAL 3rd and 1 at the SF 1, BAL leads 28 - 23.  Snap to Flacco, and Joe sprints backwards 10 yards before throwing the ball to no one.  You're one yard away from a two score lead, why sprint backwards?

8. 12:57 left in the 4th quarter, BAL 4th and 1 at the SF 1, BAL leads 28 - 23:  After the madness of the last play, THIS is where you run the fake FG.  Or just plain go for it!  If you fail, SF has the ball on their own goal line.  If you get in then it's back to a two score game.  This might have been the most egregious instance of misjudgment of the whole game.  Go win the freaking Super Bowl.

9. 10:04 left in the 4th quarter, SF 2-pt conversion try, BAL leads 31 - 29:  And Kaepernick lines up in shotgun formation.  Is that a joke?  You're 2 yards away from tying the game, so lets have your uber-athletic quarterback line up in the one formation least suited to his skill set.  Seriously, line up in any way other than shotgun and conversion is likely.

10: 1:50 left in the 4th quarter, SF 4th and goal at the BAL 5, BAL leads 34 - 29:  And Kaepernick lines up in shotgun formation.  Again?  It's the biggest play in the lives of every single member of the 49ers organization, and remember, the coach replaced his traditional pocket passer with, again, the uber-athletic Kaepernick, and you have him line up in the one formation least suited to his skill set.  That was bad enough. But then you choose to run a play - and I've been saying it for years, and I'm positive this is true although I don't know how to find the actual stats - that has the smallest odds of success of any pass play.  Maybe you try the fade pattern on first down.  Maybe you try the fade pattern when you have a pinpoint-accurate quarterback like Tom Brady throwing to a big target like a Calvin Johnson.  You DO NOT try this play on the last play of the Super Bowl with your quarterback with a 9-game resume.  Octuple yikes!  And now Baltimore takes over with 1:46 left.

I bet Jim Harbaugh wishes he had that one timeout back.