Baltimore over San Francisco by 3 (at New Orleans, LA)

We absolutely guarantee the winner of Super Bowl XLVII at the Superdome in New Orleans will be a Harbaugh-coached team.We just have to figure out if it is John Harbaugh’s Ravens, or his younger brother Jim’s 49ers. Favorites have covered in seven of the 10 playoff games, yet we’re going to side with Baltimore. John Harbaugh has brought the Ravens to the AFC championship game in three of his five seasons. Now he’s reached the Super Bowl. The Ravens hosted the 49ers on Thanksgiving night last season and won, 16-6. Now this may not even be Harbaugh’s best Ravens team due to defensive injuries, but the veteran-led Ravens have tremendous momentum, are resilient and Joe Flacco is playing the best he’s ever played away from M&T Bank Stadium.There’s also the Ray Lewis retirement motivation factor. It shouldn’t be discounted.The Ravens are 5-5 without their future Hall of Fame linebacker and 8-1 with him.The 37-year-old Lewis not only still has it in this his 17th and final season, but he remains a huge inspiration to his teammates.This isn’t an anti-49ers play. Obviously by the final margin we’re expecting a close game. We just feel this is Baltimore’s time. Colin Kaepernick has elevated the 49ers’ offense to be on a par with their upper tier defense. Kaepernick’s quarterback rating is well above 100 since he became the starter leading San Francisco to eight victories in its last 10 games. Kaepernick has been brilliant in his playoff wins against Green Bay and Atlanta throwing for a combined 496 yards, rush- ing for another 202 yards and accounting for five touchdowns. Kaepernick brings a mobility factor the Ravens have yet to encounter.Yet during their past two games the Ravens knocked off Peyton Manning and Tom Brady – two of the all-time greatest quarterbacks – in successive weeks on the road. That achievement can’t be downplayed and it proves Baltimore is way past its late season blues when it dropped four of its last five regular season games. In beat- ing New England in the AFC championship game, the Ravens held the Patriots to fewer than 14 points.That hadn’t happened to New England since Week 2. The Ravens’ veteran and proud defense has two weeks to study Kaepernick. The Falcons kept Kaepernick much more in check than Green Bay learning from the Packers’ mistake of not keeping Kaepernick in the pocket. Flacco outplayed Brady in last year’s AFC title game in Foxboro. He outplayed Manning in the cold at Denver and he outplayed Brady again in Foxboro dur- ing this year’s title game. Flacco has a 15-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio during his last six postseason games. Flacco has won more than half of his playoff road games. His six playoff road victories are more than Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Favre, Brady and Manning. Those seven legendary quarterbacks were a combined 13-29 in road playoff contests. Kaepernick has elevated the play of Michael Crabtree turning him into a legit- imate No. 1 wide receiver. Frank Gore remains highly effective. LaMichael James is a dangerous scatback and Vernon Davis always has to be watched. San Francisco’s offensive line is one of the best, if not the best in the league.The 49ers’ offense, however, has shined much more at home. San Francisco has failed to break the 383-yard barrier in nine road matchups. Baltimore’s offense has come together at the right time. No team has had more downfield passing success during the postseason than the Ravens. Flacco has averaged 284 yards passing in three playoff games this year. He’s thrown eight touchdown passes without an interception. His quarterback rating for the postseason is 125.6, 116.2 and 106.3. By comparison,Aaron Rodgers led the NFL with a 108 quar- terback rating. Baltimore’s offensive line has stepped up during the postsea- son. Flacco has thrown touchdown passes of 40 yards of longer to six differ- ent receivers this year. Ray Rice is one of the five best all-purpose backs in the league. Kicker Justin Tucker made 14 of 17 field goal attempts from 40 yards

or more, including nailing a game-winning 47-yard field goal in tough weather conditions at Denver. Contrast this with San Francisco kicker David Akers, who may be the least effective starting kicker in the league missing 13 of 42 field goal attempts, including a 38-yarder in Atlanta’s dome stadium during the NFC title game.Akers is 9-for-19 in field goal tries from 40 plus yards. Baltimore has another special teams edge with Pro Bowl returner Jacoby Jones. He led the league in kick return average at 30.7 yards and was 15th in punt return aver- age at 9.2 while tying for the league lead with three total return touchdowns. It was a botched punt return that cost the 49ers a trip to the Super Bowl last season. San Francisco’s defense allowed just 4.7 yards per play during the reg- ular season, which was the best mark in the NFC.The 49ers surrendered the second-fewest points in the league. Star defensive lineman Justin Smith has shown he can hold up despite playing with a bulky arm brace to protect a torn bicep.The 49ers can be beat on the ground, though, especially now with top- notch run-stuffer Smith at less than 100 percent.They yielded an average of 143 yards rushing during the five games they did not win.Rice provides Flacco with a solid running option and is perhaps the best checkdown receiving back in the league.The Ravens averaged 13 more runs and 74.2 more yards on the ground in their first three games after replacing stodgy offensive coordinator Cam Cameron with Jim Caldwell in Week 15. San Francisco is a solid, well- coached team. But the Ravens are on a roll.They’ve beaten the two best AFC teams as underdogs of more than a touchdown. The Patriots would have opened the favorite against the 49ers if they would have reached the Super Bowl.Taking the points with the Ravens is the way to go. BALTIMORE 27-24 .