User:Hellno2/Harbaugh Bowl

The Harbaugh Bowl (or HarBowl ) was an NFL regular season football game played between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 2011, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The game represented the first time in NFL history that a game was played between two teams whose head coaches were brothers. Ironically, both teams lost in the conference championship games later that season (Ravens lost when Billy Cundiff missed a potential game-tying kick to the New England Patriots, 49ers lost to the New York Giants in overtime by a field goal These losses nullified the chance of a Harbaugh Bowl II in Super Bowl XLVI.). However, both coaches led their teams back to their conference championship games in the 2012 season, and both were victorious, setting up Super Bowl XLVII as Harbaugh Bowl II. John Harbaugh led the Baltimore Ravens to victory, as they defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII with a score of 34-31.

The 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers were 9-1 heading into the game and leading the NFC West, and is trailing the National Football Conference to the Green Bay Packers, who were undefeated at the time. The 49ers' only loss was in Week 2 to the Dallas Cowboys. The 49ers had former #1 pick in Alex Smith, who was having the best year of his career, Frank Gore, playoff hero and tight end Vernon Davis, Joe Staley, Justin Smith, Defensive Rookie of the Year Aldon Smith, Patrick Willis, Carlos Rogers, Brian Jennings, David Akers and Andy Lee.

The Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens were 7-3 heading into the game, and is tied for 1st in the AFC North, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team is also tied in the American Football Conference for first with the New England Patriots. The Ravens had only lost to the Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Seattle Seahawks. The Ravens' roster featured Joe Flacco, running backs Vonta Leach and newly-acquired Ricky Williams, Anquan Boldin, Lee Evans, Torrey Smith, former Viking Bryant McKinnie, The Blind Side subject Michael Oher, Marshall Yanda, Carolina Panthers quarterback and first overall draft pick in 2011 Cam Newton's brother Cecil Newton, Haloti Ngata, Defensive Player of the Year Terrell Suggs, Dominique Foxworth, Ed Reed, Billy Cundiff and Sam Koch.

The Harbaugh Brothers
John Harbaugh, the older of the two brothers by 15 months, and is 49 years of age, began his NFL coaching career in 1998 after a long career as a coach of various college football teams (Western Michigan University, University of Pittsburgh, Morehead State University, University of Cincinnati, and the University of Indiana). He eventually became the defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles. He first assumed his position of head coach of the Ravens, his first NFL head coaching job ever, in 2008, and his team has made the playoffs successfully in each of his first three seasons.

Jim Harbaugh, currently 47 years-old, started coaching the 49ers in the 2011 season following a 15-year playing career as a quarterback in the NFL with 6 teams (Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers, Detroit Lions, and the Carolina Panthers), including a brief stint with the Ravens, and a 17-year coaching career of college and NFL teams (Western Kentucky, Oakland Raiders, University of San Diego, and Stanford University), some of which overlapped with his NFL playing career. Harbaugh coached the Cardinal to an upset over Southern California. He also coached Heisman finalist and current Minnesota Vikings running back Toby Gerhart, as well as projected #1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft Andrew Luck. The Cardinal lost in the 2009 Sun Bowl to Oklahoma, while winning the 2010 Orange Bowl over Virginia Tech under Harbaugh.

Prior to the game, the two head coaches met for a traditional handshake, but given their relationship, it turned out to be anything but traditional.

Family reactions
The game was seen by many analysts as an appropriate event for Thanksgiving Day, given the family connections.

The parents of the two coaches, Jack and Jackie Harbaugh, watched the game, which took place one day before their 50th wedding anniversary, from an office. They chose such a location because they wanted the media focus to be on the game, and they did not wish to have cameras on them constantly.

Jackie Harbaugh, the mother of the brothers, stated that she wanted the game to end in a tie, according to the Carroll County Times and Yahoo! Sports.

The two coaches themselves stated their wishes prior to the game of having the game focus be on their players and not their families.

Game summary
The game was said to be a battle of defenses, given that the two teams entered the game with the 1st and 3rd ranked defenses in the NFL respectively in total points allowed. This showed out in the first three quarters of the game as no touchdowns were scored at all.

The Ravens struck first on the first possession of the game when kicker Billy Cundiff nailed a 39-yard field goal, giving his team a 3-0 lead. But toward the end of the quarter, the 49ers tied the game when David Akers made a field goal. The Ravens took a 6-3 lead in the second quarter on another field goal. Toward the end of the half, the 49ers had the ball with a chance for at least a field goal and possibly a touchdown when quarterback Alex Smith threw a pass that was intercepted by Lardarius Webb in the end zone.

The 49ers tied the game in the third quarter with a 52-yard field goal from Akers, but the Ravens followed with a drive that burned off more than 7 minutes of the clock and included four successful 3rd down conversions, culminating in an 8-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to tight end Dennis Pitta to make the score 13-6 following the extra point.

The Ravens would tack on another field goal in the fourth quarter to increase their lead to 16-6, which would be the final score of the game.

The defense of the Ravens was strong, even in the absence of star linebacker Ray Lewis, sacking Smith 9 times to tie a franchise record and holding star running back Frank Gore to just 39 yards rushing.

With the win, the Ravens improved their record to 8-3, winning their second game in just 5 days. The 49ers suffered only the second loss of their season, falling to 9-2.