The Grant Napear Show - September 5, 2013
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The Ravens will have to get used to not having Ray Lewis in the locker room. Though his leadership will never be fully replaced, the Ravens hope rookie Arthur Brown can pick up some of the slack left by Lewis' departure.
The Ravens defense has made quite the reputation for themselves. Not just for being a dominant defense for over a decade. There is a reputation in the notion that defensive players don't play well once they leave Baltimore. With Paul Kruger now playing for the Cleveland Browns, the pass rush specialist hopes he can buck the trend.
After trailing in every game this post season, the 49ers magic finally ran out. It looked like they might be able to pull it off again, but ran into an opponent that was able to make one more big play than them. Super Bowl 47 was a thriller and came down to the wire, which is all fans can ask for. San Francisco will have to deal with the misery of losing so close to their goal, but this can only make the team stronger as they continue to grow and develop.
With one more game on the schedule, the Ravens and 49ers come into Super Bowl 47 as healthy as they could hope to be. There are a lot of names on the injury report, but none to really be concerned about, as they have all played the previous game with the same problem.
It's hard to steal all the attention during the week leading up to the Super Bowl, but Randy Moss had accomplished this feat with one statement. While it may be considered blasphemy to talk about being the greatest wide receiver in the history of the NFL, while wearing a San Francisco 49er jersey, Moss is not only entitled to his opinion, but based on his career and stats, he is not far from the truth.
Super Bowl 47 may be the final game for Ray Lewis, but the 49ers have several players who will approach the game with the same mentality. If Baltimore thinks that Ray Lewis' dramatic return to the field will allow the Ravens to play at the level that has allowed them to get this far, they had better look to the other sideline and what the 49ers are playing for. San Francisco is the hungrier team and playing for far more than their opponent.
Aldon Smith has not recorded a sack in 5 games, and after recording 19.5 through 13 games, there is of course questions as to why the 49er's single season sack king has failed to get to the quarterback as of late. An injured shoulder, and the absence of Justin Smith were a big part of it, and both of these issues have only gotten better, meaning that Aldon is primed to have another big day on Super Bowl Sunday, unless the Ravens decide to let another player beat them.
As San Francisco goes down their checklist for the Super Bowl, they are missing something. The offense is clicking, the defense continues to impress, but David Akers has put a big question mark on the kicking game. In a game where 3 points could mean the difference between a win or a loss, the 49ers hope that Akers is the reliable kicker he has been for most of his career, and not the player as of late, who is anything but consistent. by Jerrell Richardson
