Madden NFL 13 Predicts Narrow Ravens Victory In Today's Game

Both the Ravens and 49ers were held to first quarter field goals as the two top-ten defenses imposed their will to start the game. But any illusions of a low-scoring affair were shattered in the second quarter when the 49ers' Frank Gore scored on a 19-yard run and Joe Flacco quickly answered with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Torrey Smith. Later in the quarter, Baltimore added a Ray Rice touchdown run to secure a 17-10 halftime lead.

The Ravens continued to pour it on in the third quarter, with Joe Flacco tossing a 24-yard strike to Anquan Boldin to stretch the Baltimore lead to 14. San Francisco refused to go quietly though, getting an early fourth quarter touchdown from Frank Gore and adding a game-tying 12-yard touchdown pass from Colin Kaepernick to Vernon Davis just before the two-minute warning.

Baltimore wasn't about to let the 49ers spoil Ray Lewis' retirement party though, methodically moving the ball down the field on the back of Ray Rice and capping the drive with a 40-yard field goal from rookie kicker Justin Tucker to push the Ravens ahead 27-24. The 49ers made one last attempt at capturing their sixth Lombardi Trophy, but an Ed Reed interception of a pass from Colin Kaepernick with ten seconds remaining capped the Ravens' second Super Bowl title in franchise history and proved once more that defense wins championships.

Living up to his preseason claims that he was indeed an elite quarterback, Joe Flacco took home MVP honors completing 19 of 27 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns. En route to his first Super Bowl victory, Flacco eliminated a number of young signal callers and future Hall-of-Famers including Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Colin Kaepernick.