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“The Niners defense should stop the mediocre Ravens offense. SF defense is #2 in the NFL in points and #4 against both the run and the pass in YDG.”

LOL

Here was my posted Breakdown:

Ravens -4 are a great Value.

Here is what the Vegas gurus aren’t considering:
This is a different team than played earlier in the year.

1. Flacco has been more effective due to ridding the team of Cam Cameron as Offensive Coordinator.
2. Flipping Oher to RT and putting McKennie at LT has been huge for pass protection and the running game.
3. A.Boldin has been on fire late season and in the playoffs. Veteran stepping up.
4. The emergence of RB Pierce to go with Ray Rice.
5. Moving the sticks with the short passing game (less Cam Cameron plus Caldwell) keeps the older Ravens Defense rested.
6. Kaepernick has played great, but Ed Reed, Kreuger and the confusing Baltimore 3-4 give an even money probabililty that Kaepernick throws 2-3 interceptions.

Take the 4 points with the Ravens.

All of that may be true, but the fact is SF, behind by three, had 2nd and goal with 2 minutes left. SF had the 4th best running offense in the NFL in the regular season while they were 23rd in their pass offense, one of the worst. They had averaged over 6 yards per carry in the game so far. So what do they do with three downs left to make 5 yards and effectively win the game? They pass all three downs and lose.

Congrats to the Ravens, they did a great job. As far as SF goes, Jim Harbaugh's got to mature into a more cool thinker and focus on his team's strengths and not the hype. The hype this year was Kaepernick. I was all for Kaepernick. But his passing game was not the strength of SF's offense - it was the run. Harbaugh should have known that.