Super Bowl storylines

It’s Media Week, the craziest time of the year. The biggest TV event of the year is a week away, the media circus is world’s biggest this side of Jets camp, and we will all be burned out by the time Sunday rolls around. Here are the four biggest stories coming into The Big Game. Once you read this, you can turn off the radio and TV, tune in Sunday afternoon, and you won’t have missed anything.

1. Kaepernicus. Ever since I first saw him on the field I knew that he was a future star and I’ve been saying that for a month. I didn’t realize that future is already here! He has only started half a season, but Colin Kaepernick… what can you say? The potential is through the roof.

The last two weeks were a snapshot of his arsenal and it’s the full package. He used his legs to blow out the Packers and did it in record fashion. Against the Falcons he used his arm to mount an impressive comeback on the road. Like LeBron James in the NBA, Kap is a freakish physical specimen. He is huge, 6-4, 230 lbs. He is very fast, outrunning everybody on the defense. A “former” pitcher, he can throw a baseball 92 mph and in like manner can throw a football with more velocity than any other quarterback. He has the accuracy of a Pro Bowl veteran and already has the knack for putting the ball in the perfect location for a receiver to catch and make a big play. He avoids mistakes. After each of the four interceptions he threw this year, he came back the next possession to lead the 49ers to a touchdown. When he runs with the football he has a knack to pick up a chunk of yards without taking big hits. Just the fear of him running opens up the whole offense for a Frank Gore handoff or a long pass to Michael Crabtree. He beat a lot of good teams in his short career, including the Bears, Packers, in New Orleans, in New England and in Atlanta. So yes, he has size, speed, arm strength, accuracy, decision-making, and composure.

Face it; Jim Harbaugh is smarter than you. He knows more about quarterbacks than you. Alex Smith took the Niners to the NFC Championship Game a year ago and is a nice player. He probably could have gotten them back this year, too. Harbaugh took a lot of criticism for sticking with Kap after Smith got healthy. Smith will have a starting job next year somewhere. But he’s not a star. Kaepernick is the full package and we haven’t even seen his full potential.

2. January Joe. Ben Roethlisberger has the nickname and reputation of Big Ben, but did you know that Joe Flacco is even larger (6-6, 245 lbs, compared to Big Ben 6-5, 241)? Joe Flacco hasn’t received a whole lot of credit or recognition in his career. During the regular season he shows flashes of brilliance but also makes a lot of poor decisions. Nobody throws deep as often as Flacco; as a result, his completion percentage isn’t as high as it could be. For the most part of his career the Ravens defense has been the best in the league and on offense he has had Ray Rice, one of the NFL’s best running backs, as a sidekick so he hasn’t had to throw for 4,000 yards. He’s big, but he never takes off (hasn’t had 90 yards rushing in any of the last four seasons).

But let’s get the facts straight: Flacco has started every game for the Ravens since they drafted him five years ago. And once the playoffs start he doesn’t mess around. He has won eight playoff games (at least one every year) including a record six on the road. He was good enough to win the AFC Championship last year. This season the defense has been down and Rice had his least productive season, and Flacco still led the Ravens to the Super Bowl. Last week Tom Brady struggled with the wind on Sunday; Flacco did better when he was throwing into the wind! This postseason Flacco has thrown 8 touchdowns without an interception and had two of his most impressive games ever against Peyton’s Broncos and Tom’s Patriots.

It’s hard to quantify and rank Flacco. Is he elite, a Top Five quarterback? Probably not, probably not even Top Ten. But if he gets a Super Bowl ring, especially this year when the Ravens collectively are the weakest they have been since he arrived, it doesn’t matter where he ranks. “All he does is win,” even more so than Tim Tebow. This has been a statement season for him. Last week he turned 28, so we have another decade of Flacco to go.

3. HarBowl. Yeah, you’ve probably heard of this one. This is the first time that two brothers have faced each other as coaches in the Super Bowl. We all hear how Rex Ryan and the Jets went to two straight Conference Championship games; so have Jim Harbaugh and Jeff Harbaugh, and they’ve gone on to win one of them! And actually, they should have won last year, too.

It’s impossible to talk about Joe Flacco without mentioning John Harbaugh. Both guys arrived at the same time and have been consistent during all the winning. While Joe has won eight playoff games (possibly nine) in five years, so has John. John inherited a talented team, but they were coming off a season where the quarterback got hurt midseason (then retired) and the team clearly had grown tired of Coach Brian Billick, losing nine straight games. As talented as the ’02-‘07 Ravens were, they only made the playoffs twice in those six seasons and never won a playoff game. Since John arrived, no team has been more consistent, making the playoffs and advancing each year, and they’ve been a real bear to face. John has instilled an aura of physicality that is unmatched. And I don't think he wants to lose to his younger brother.

As a quarterback with the Colts, Jim Harbaugh came a dropped pass away from the Super Bowl. As a quarterbacks coach for the Raiders, he helped Rich Gannon have one of the greatest seasons ever for a quarterback. As head coach he helped the University of San Diego have back-to-back 11-1 seasons. At Stanford he coached Andrew Luck, one of football’s brightest prospects ever. He also led the Cardinals to three wins over USC in four years, including one when they were 41 point underdogs (biggest upset in NCAA history). He also led Stanford to their first 11-1 season in school history. As a head coach of the 49ers he helped Alex Smith finally become a quality starting quarterback and Smith had his best two years (okay, year and a half) of his career. And now he has developed Colin Kaepernick into a star. In his first two years he has led a talented but underachieving Niners team to an NFC Championship game and the Super Bowl I would say that Jim knows a thing or two about quarterbacks and coaching.

4. Ray Lewis. Yes, we are all tired of his act and his preaching. But look at the difference his presence makes on the field. Without him the defense was a joke. With him, Captain America and the Patriots were shut out in the second half. Lewis makes everyone around him on defense better. He is old and not as dominant as he was in his prime. Yet in these three playoff games he had 44 tackles. The former Super Bowl MVP has announced his retirement following the season we know this is it for Reverend Ray, but his season continues to be extended. And this week he hopes to make like John Elway and Michael Strahan and win the Super Bowl in his last game. He is one of the game’s most inspirational leaders on the field, arguably the best middle linebacker in the history of the NFL, and definitely the most dominating player in my lifetime. I’m looking forward to his pregame dance and seeing him cover the middle of the field for the last time.